Ari
by Captain RedStar
Summary: Loki's under watch in Asgard, Fury and the Avengers are getting on with their lives but there have been hackings, disappearances and some kind of 'weapon' under construction. Steve, Tony and Bruce find a girl with an unusual talent that may be key to the Avengers- or their enemy's weapon. Turning to Thor for help, they may in fact undo all they have worked for.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I own no Marvel characters, plot lines or worlds. I own the OCs and that's it.  
_

* * *

_Any library in New York…Any library in New York…_

The phrase kept turning over and over in his mind. That was what the forum had said. You could get Aristotle in any library in New York. Of course, he knew that. Anyone knew that you could pick up a book on Aristotle in any library across such a big city. You could even pick it up in a book shop, but his needs required a library.

_If you don't make contact we will not pay our end._

It was that thought that pushed Lewis through the door. He had wondered which library to choose from. Should he choose one outside his neighbourhood to avoid being obvious, or should he choose his local to avoid suspicion of going so out of his way for a library? Lewis had selected the library nearest to his apartment and made the journey on foot this morning.

The library was quiet, a few people were spaced out through the shelves and there was only one sleepy looking librarian sitting at the desk, sorting through a pile of books. She was quite cute, he thought. It might be worth his while coming to the library more often. Lewis shook his head. There was no time to think like that.

The forum had said to simply ask the librarian. But that was the thing. There was always more than one and they might not be the source he was looking for. His research had turned up nothing. The amount of time and energy spent separating the actual posts on Aristotle in these forums from the 'secret' ones hadn't given him an answer. It would seem he just had to ask and hope everything went as described.

Aware that he'd spent too long in the doorway, Lewis went towards the desk and cleared his throat. The girl behind it looked up and stifled a yawn. "Can I help you today?"

"Yes…" Said Lewis, hesitating. He could walk out right now. "I'm looking for a book on Aristotle." He could actually hear his heart thumping. Would this go like the script or would she think it an honest inquiry?

She pursed her lips a little before replying. "Over Socrates?"

He almost sighed in relief. The key word. Socrates. "No, I hear he knew nothing." The girl gave a little smile –perhaps a smirk- and disappeared under her desk. She came back up with an old blue bound book that was still in reasonable condition. Without asking for any kind of card or proof he belonged to this library, she handed it over.

"This one is the best source we have, I find. The chapter on Rhetoric is brilliant."

"Thank you, I'll give it a read." He tucked the book inside his jacket and left as fast as he could. _The librarian will then tell you which chapter the contact information is in, _was what the instructions online had said. He had the chapter, now he just had to make contact. And when he did…_They'll give me back Amy…_

When Lewis returned home he took off the coat and sat the book by his computer. He didn't go to it immediately. He made some coffee and ordered in a pizza. He hadn't eaten properly in two days and with the first hurdle done with he regained some of his appetite. Once he had the box in hand he went straight to his desk and opened the book, going straight to the chapter on Rhetoric and finding, written between the lines, a web address. He typed it in, swallowing down a slice of pizza. He froze as the page loaded. He needed a password which was written in the page. He typed that into the space as well. And then there was a download link. He didn't know what it would do, only that once it was downloaded and the software installed he could communicate with the person on the other end.

It took ten minutes to install the software and he began to sweat, running his hands nervously over his jeans to wipe them clean. _What if she refuses to talk to me? No, you'll make her talk, for Amy's sake…_

A chat window appeared in the centre of his screen. He didn't really understand how this was working, but he typed into the box anyway. It was the only obvious thing to do. '_I need help'._ Was all he said.

And then he was left alone for two hours, letting the coffee grow cold. He very nearly fell asleep at his desk before he heard the bleep of a reply. '_And what can I help you with, Lewis?_'

Lewis's mouth grew dry. '_How do you know my name?' _He typed, frantically.

'_I know everything_. _But you already knew this, or why else would you have contacted me?_'

'_I need some information.'_

'_What kind?'_

'_I need-' _He hesitated for a long time. '_I need information from Stark Enterprises.'_

'_Oh, a big spender? You know that costs a lot? What kind of information?'_

'_SHIELD.' _Lewis felt his face grow cold now. Everything depended on this.

'_I can do that. It will cost you triple the Stark Price. And you don't seem to be made of money, living in that dingy flat.' _

He swallowed. He had to remember, she knew everything about you. It was part of entering into a contract. This wasn't anything to freak out over. '_Trust me, I can pay you. Please, I need this information.' _

'_Send me exactly what you want and we can arrange payment.'_

Lewis let out a long sigh of relief. He could feel his knees shaking and the pain in his muscles shot through his body as they began to relax for the first time that evening. He began typing up exactly what information he needed. Places, dates, people, specific files-

Someone burst through the door. He heard someone call out for him and then footsteps. He turned in his chair to see men in black suits, armed and pointing at him. "You need to come with us, sir."

"No." Lewis whispered. "No, please, they have my daught-"

"We have your daughter." One of the men replied sharply. "We need to take you in now."

"Am…Am I under arrest?"

"That depends on who you were talking to on the other end of that computer." The man replied.

"Who are you?" Lewis asked, quietly sinking into his seat, feeling the tears rise in his eyes. Everything, every hell he'd been living for the last forty-eight hours came rushing to the surface. He couldn't stop himself from crying now.

"SHIELD," the man said.


	2. Chapter One: Lewis

Lewis was confined to an interview room in a building he hadn't been allowed to see and had gone on such a long route he wasn't sure where he was at all. He'd been given a meal and some water, but only a plastic spoon to eat it with. He'd drank the water and left the food. The knowledge that someone else had his daughter now made him sick. If he only knew if they were friends or foes he could at least stop feeling so twisted up inside. He looked at himself in the large mirror on the wall in front of him. His eyes looked bruised with the lack of sleep and bloodshot too. He ran a hand through his sandy hair. _When did I last brush it? Have I even brushed my teeth or washed in the last two days? I don't remember…_

The door to his right opened, causing Lewis to twitch nervously. A man in another black suit came in, but then stopped, pressing a finger to his ear. "Understood," he said and walked out. A few minutes later another man came in. Lewis could only stare. This man was certainly intimidating, and Lewis did not doubt that if this man wanted to hurt him he'd be feeling more than pain. There was also an air of secrecy about him as he came over and sat down on the other side of Lewis's table. Lewis stared at the man's face for a while before dropping his gaze to the table. He had a feeling staring at this man's eye patch would only serve to annoy him.

To his surprise, when the man spoke there was kindness there. He had a firm, no-nonsense kind of way, but still there was some kindness. "Your daughter is safe and sound. She's upstairs and you'll be allowed to see her once you answer a few questions for me. And I suppose you'll have some yourself."

Lewis was already cried out but still wiped his eyes as more tears threatened to surface. "Thank you." He hesitated. "Is she hurt?"

"A little shaken, but she's with one of our agents right now who's keeping her entertained. We ran some tests and she's clean and healthy inside and out."

"How…How did you find us?"

"We've had a few attempted hackings and break-ins over the last three months and were tracking the amateurs of this group attempting to infiltrate us. Two of our agents ambushed and collected them in a warehouse a few miles away, and your daughter was in there. She said her daddy was being forced to do something and after an interrogation of the men responsible we quickly found you." He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. "I apologise for scaring you like we did, but we had to be sure that you didn't have any company in your home."

Lewis could only nod. _Amy is alive…I'm okay…Or am I?_ "Am I going to be arrested?"

"No. We'll sweep this under the rug and keep an eye on you both for a while. We think you were just chosen at random for this."

_At random…So it was all just a horrible piece of bad luck…_ He nearly laughed, although he didn't know what was so funny.

"Now, I need to know what these men wanted you to get."

Lewis cleared his throat. "They…Wanted information on…On the 'Avengers Initiative'. They wanted agent names and details…Incident reports and relationships, budgets…"

"Do you know who you were talking to?"

"No. Can't you trace it on my computer?"

"We tried," replied the man sharply. "Believe me, we tried. Your entire hard drive was nuked."

Lewis gaped. "W-What? She…She killed my computer?"

The man nodded. "We'll replace it. Who were you talking to?"

Lewis swallowed and answered slowly. "I don't know her real name. 'Ari' or 'Miss Aristotle' is what she's nick-named as online. You find her details on forums and discussion pages and things…They say she can get anything you want or need…"

"Was she apart of this?"

"No." Lewis shook his head. "I was told to make contact and ask for information. They didn't want anything to be traced back to them so used me instead…Ari never seeks people out, they seek her. She asks no questions except how much you're willing to pay."

"We suggest you don't contact her again unless we ask you too. We need to track down this Ari."

Lewis nodded. The rest of the interview was him walking this agent through every step he'd taken to contact Ari, and when he'd noticed Amy had gone missing and how he'd been contacted about her. He had to give a lot of details and explained about how the library and code words worked to get the correct books. He had to write out his online conversation several times to make sure it was correct and word for word. The intensity of those moments had burned it into his mind. Lewis was then sworn to secrecy. Eventually, the agent allowed him to leave and was escorted by another agent to Amy.

He saw her on an indoor archery range, using a tiny bow to shoot arrows at a close target. Her sandy hair that matched his gleamed in the light. She missed her target and he nearly laughed again. It was so odd to see her with a weapon, his little girl who still played with dolls. A muscled man was instructing her before Lewis's escort tapped on the window and alerted Amy and her instructor to their presence. Amy looked up and shrieked in delight before running to the door, dropping her bow. The instructor picked it up and walked out the room from a different door. Lewis picked Amy up and buried his face in her hair, the both of them sobbing. A car was waiting for them downstairs that would take them anywhere they wanted to go for the rest of the day. First, he'd go out and buy her a new dress, then take her out to dinner and then home where she'd be safe.

He carried her out to the car, hoping he'd never have to hear from any of these agents again.


	3. Chapter Two: Sophie

It was the kind of day Sophie liked best. Warm and cloudless but still a breeze in the air so she didn't get too tired with heat. She'd spent the morning in the gym before returning home to shower. Once dressed and fed she'd headed into the city to shop. She'd picked up food for dinner, some new clothes, books, magazines and was now finishing up by looking at helmets. It had been a while since she'd been out on her motorbike and she'd misplaced her helmet in the move. She may as well make a fresh start.

She stepped into the store, daydreaming as she walked around to where the helmets were. Perhaps something sky blue, that would be nice. She changed the song on her mp3 player, and then headed in a different direction. She should get something to let her listen to music in her helmet. She should probably download some new music-

Sophie stumbled back as she bumped into a very tall man. She rubbed her arm a little. That had been like bumping into rock. "I'm sorry," She mumbled.

"That's okay, it was entirely my fault." He said, not unkindly. He moved aside for her and Sophie hurried away to find someone to get her the correct helmet size.

* * *

Steve had slowly grown accustomed to his modern life. He still preferred to sit in his apartment most of the time; the outside world was a little overwhelming sometimes. Every Friday Tony and Bruce, with Pepper occasionally, would take him out shopping for his food and anything else he might need before finishing up with dinner at some fancy place of Tony's choosing. Pepper always came clothes shopping with him as she understood his tastes better. SHIELD still kept in touch, seeing he was safe, although Director Fury was keeping that on a 'down low', so no one else knew where he was or what he was doing.

Even though he was still getting a lot of help from his friends and the agency, Steve was very proud of what independent developments he'd made on his own. He'd bought a very basic phone and had learnt to text with it. He didn't understand Tony's or Bruce's phones at all, but was pleased enough with his. He volunteered at a soup kitchen twice a week and had a job all his own fixing up motorbikes; although he still only worked part-time at that. Soon, he'd be settled enough to work full-time, and be completely independent. Tony was now talking about getting him a computer which Steve was dreading.

He watched the girl he'd just bumped into in the shop stumble away through the aisles. She seemed a little vague, like she was caught in a day dream. He shrugged it off and starting trying on gloves. He picked a pair of brown leather ones and took them up to the counter. Tony had told him that he had to get used to using his card, so he decided to buy something fairly small with it first. The whole process seemed baffling, but after putting in his pin, he almost cringed at how silly he'd been. Chuckling, he took the gloves outside to find Tony and go for dinner. The girl he bumped into was trying on a sky blue helmet. He nodded to her and she smiled back as he stepped out.

For once, Steve and Bruce convinced Tony that they'd like to go to a simple diner. Tony still managed to pay for extra privacy somehow. But privacy where he was facing a window that looked onto a busy street full of people. As their meals were brought out Steve asked, "Is Pepper joining us tonight?"

"Oh, no." Tony said, taking a big bite out of his burger. "There was some kind of big meeting that I was supposed to go to or something and she thought it was more important than spending time with you, Steve. Than spending time with us, our little family right here." Tony looked at Steve and then Bruce over the top of his burger. "Just remember who really loves you guys."

"I can see how having burgers with us is certainly more important than providing for your company and in turn all the workers who rely on you." Said Bruce, his usual slight nervous manner slipping through.

"Well," Said Tony, "It was certainly more appealing and smells more delicious than sweat and bad aftershave." Steve listened to them argue back and forth, although there was never any real emotion behind it. He enjoyed listening to them. When they began to talk about their latest projects he got a little lost, but he had picked up on some things. Natasha had suggested he do a little learning and then provided him with reading material on basic science. Occasionally, from watching his television late at night he could pitch in a point or two which always pleased him.

Just before their desert arrived each of their phones went off. They all rummaged in pockets and read the same message. '_Stark Tower, tomorrow, 1000.'_

"Who is it?" Steve asked, after they'd all shown each other their screens.

"My guess is Fury." Tony answered. "Did he acquire my tower? Did he just tell me to come to my own tower that early in the morning? Is that what he just did?"

"The evidence would suggest that is exactly what has happened." Bruce said, tucking his phone away like nothing had happened. "Must be quite serious if he wants to see us. It's been a good year since we heard from them."

"I think you are missing the issue," Tony stressed, "And that is that Fury has stolen my tower."

"I think he's just borrowing it." Steve said

"Well, he didn't ask me first." Tony retorted, taking up his spoon for his apple pie.

"But," Bruce said, picking up his spoon too, "I'll bet he asked Pepper…"

Tony scowled. "I'll bet she even suggested the time so I'd get out of bed."

* * *

When she'd finally decided to go home, Sophie had taken a cab out of the city to her place on the outskirts. She'd never blanched at the cost, just handed over her money and ferried her bags up in three lots. Once inside she started putting away her things and then made a simple rice dish for her dinner. She went through to her bedroom with his bowl and changed into her pyjamas before taking the bowl to her wardrobe.

She climbed though the wardrobe and came out in the apartment next to hers. The room was full of machines. Computer towers on top of computer towers, radios, boxes, screens. Wires pooled everywhere on the floor. She sat down on her pile of cushions and bean bags and pulled her keyboard over to her with a little smile. She typed in '_Captain America'_. She scanned through all the pictures that came up in the results. The jawline and chin matched. And so did the eyes. The only picture with his hood down had been taken at a distance, but the haircut looked very similar. _Well, well. Today I saw Captain America…Time for some digging._


	4. Chapter Three: The Hacker

Steve had only managed to get a handful of sleep that night. He didn't sleep well anyway. Too many nightmares and worries about the past, the present, the future…He was also worried about seeing Fury in the morning. He couldn't bring himself to trust SHEILD and Fury fully, not after what they had been planning to do and those weapons…

Nevertheless, he got up, showered, ate, brushed his teeth and dressed smartly before making his way to Stark Tower. He took his bike and parked in a space Tony had provided for him. He wasn't sure who else was here or where to go as he stepped inside the building. It was very overwhelming, bright and full of people. He felt so out of place in denim and flannel. Steve stood awkwardly by a large flowering plant, watching the entrance to see who else would be coming and sent a text message to Tony asking what floor he should go to. Three minutes later he made his way to an elevator and pressed the button for the top floor, Tony's private apartment at the top. Tony must have given him clearance because he rode straight up without any problems.

Tony and Bruce were sitting on one of the couches, Tony already starting on the drinks while Bruce sipped out of a large mug of coffee. Natasha was sitting with them, talking quietly and Clint was standing outside on the balcony area. Steve jumped as he heard JARVIS, "Welcome, Steve Rodgers."

"Yeah…Thanks." He stumbled away from the doors and sat down across from Bruce and smiled nervously.

"Coffee?" Bruce asked, getting up.

"Please." Steve said as Bruce went away to refill his own mug and make Steve a fresh one. He began to check off names in his head. _Bruce, Tony, Natasha, Clint, me…Fury will probably bring Agent Hill and I doubt Thor will ever get here…Coulson…_ He stopped thinking and turned to Natasha. "How are you?"

"Not too bad." She said, taking a mug Bruce handed her and Steve took his own. "I've been working a lot in Europe over the winter, but I'm back here for a little while. Perhaps I can see you and we can do some catching up?"

Steve nodded. "I'd like that. I haven't seen Clint in a while either."

"He was between missions for a while, but I think he's been in New York for a few weeks training some newer agents for field work." She wrinkled her nose a little. "He's more a people person than I am. I find training others a little…exasperating."

Steve smiled a little, unsure of what to say and took a sip of his coffee.

The doors slid open and Fury stepped in with Agent Hill. Tony waved. "Can I get you a drink?"

"It's ten in the morning."

"I haven't slept, so for me, this is still one day and I'm allowed to drink." Tony beamed. Fury said nothing but came and sat down with the group. Hill was carrying a laptop which she proceeded to set up. "Let me get that." Tony said, pulling out his phone and typing something into it. His screens pulled up the images on Fury's laptop.

"Thank you." Fury said, although Steve thought a little grudgingly. "We have a potential situation."

"Here we go again." Bruce said.

Fury ignored him and continued. "We have had disappearances all over the city in the last three months. Mostly military and science personal- but occasionally civilians. We aren't sure where they fit into this yet. We have a group that have attempted to hack into us several times, and each time they failed and we caught them."

Hill took over, pulling up pictures of people. "Each one has refused to talk, except one in exchange for solitary confinement under guard. He seemed terrified. He claims they're working for someone called 'Thanos'. We have no idea what their collective name is."

"Picking a name like that he must have Daddy issues." Tony said.

"Anyway," Hill continued, "We know they are working on a weapon. However…We don't know what the weapon is."

Fury looked at Tony and Bruce. "We'd like you two to look over all the papers and research of the scientists taken. Perhaps you can find something for us. A lot of them were working on terraforming and genetics. We'll work on civilian connections."

Bruce looked perplexed. "Odd things to go after for a weapon."

"Exactly why we need you." Fury then looked at Steve. "Agents Barton and Romanoff have been working separately to take down individual members of the cell. We would like you to join them and work as a unit to take down the bigger numbers."

Steve said nothing for a while. Working with Clint and Natasha would be wonderful, but they worked very differently from him and he just knew they wouldn't mix well as a group of three. However, he wasn't too fond of ominous sounding weapons or the people who built them. "Okay, I'm in. But, if SHIELD has some kind of hidden agenda I will go back to my garage and stay there." Fury didn't reply but went on.

"We do have a security problem within SHIELD that we need to get sorted regarding these hackings, and I feel we may need everyone."

"What could I do?" Steve asked. "I can barely work my phone. And I have no idea what to do with the music pod Tony gave me."

"It's not a music pod-" Tony started.

"No, Steve, we need you to go with us to get our hacker." Fury said, ignoring Tony completely.

"You know," Tony began again, "Just because you can't see me when you're looking at Steve doesn't mean I'm not here."

"Give it a rest." Natasha said.

"Well I'm so sorry if I don't like being interrupted while trying to assist my poor, technologically deprived friend." Bruce stifled a laugh as Fury glared at Tony.

Bruce glanced up at Fury. "I thought you said these hackings failed."

"They did." Fury said. "Until yesterday. A completely different hacker outside the cell. They're good, they're fast and they left very little trace."

"What did they take?" Bruce asked.

"They took a lot of our files. A _lot_ of them. Most importantly, they have copies on all of you."

There was silence. Steve tried to comprehend this. _Someone has my whole life on their computer somewhere. That's just weird…_ Tony spoke up. "I, uh, had a similar problem. Last week someone hacked into Stark Tower and stole some of my research papers. The ones that are only between Bruce and I."

"We didn't say anything because we had JARVIS run a trace and we thought, well, he'd have an answer by now." Bruce said and then added, "And because it hurts Tony's pride someone beat JARVIS." Tony scowled.

"Well, you're in luck." Fury said, pulling up some more files and images onto the screens. Steve's head started to hurt from how fast everything moved. "We know it's a woman and she goes by the name of Ari. Agent Barton here used her to get some valuable information when he was in China three years ago."

"She's good." Steve jumped. Clint was always so quiet. He didn't even remember him coming inside. "She got me pass codes, family histories, ID, account numbers, cell numbers, car plates; everything I needed to track these guys selling illegal weapons." He sat down next to Natasha. "That's how she makes money; this woman must be making a fortune. Depending on the nature of your information depends on what she'll do with it. For example, if she had information on Tony's shares or something and you failed to pay up, she'd just auction off the information to the highest bidder. But if she had sensitive secret information she'll either keep it to herself or auction off little snippets of it to the desperate in the science community. That's if you can't pay her prices. And she knows things. She knew my name and my hotel when I made contact."

"So," Natasha said to Fury, "You think we can find Ari? She sounds clever. More than clever."

"We've been narrowing it down. Tony, we'd like you to get JARVIS to run some things." Fury pulled up a photograph. "This is an image of a conversation she had with a man who was forced into communicating with her. We think, judging by a couple of words, Ari may not be American. She's European, and seems to move around a lot. You can access her online, but it's easier if you live where she lives then you can find her through libraries. She's paid off a lot of librarians but none of them want to talk to us. She last lived in Germany, so we'd like you to narrow down female German immigrants with JARVIS, Tony, while we run this trace on both hackings."

"Will do." Tony and Bruce gathered around Fury and Hill. Steve backed away not sure if he wanted to stay much longer. He wasn't sure he understood what had just happened. Clint followed him to the elevator with Natasha.

"Let's go make a food run. It might be a long day." Natasha said, pressing the button for the ground floor. "We'll get breakfast now and Chinese for dinner. That okay with everyone?" Steve nodded, watching Tony and Bruce tapping things on their screens as the door slid shut.


	5. Chapter Four: The Hacker Part Two

_AN_: _A thanks to the reviewer who kindly corrected my mistakes without being a tool about it. I appreciated it very much._

* * *

When they returned with breakfast rolls and drinks, Steve had expected he'd be shoved in a corner and left there until something he could actually do came up. To his surprise, Bruce asked him to work with him looking over forum postings. Steve immediately tried to find an excuse to do something else to spare himself embarrassment but Bruce wouldn't let him go. He had everything printed out and told Steve to just go through the conversations finding anything that looked unusual. Together, they worked out a rough code on how to identify when someone was talking about Ari and when someone was genuinely talking about philosophy. After reading some of the real posts, Steve decided to make a note to himself to get some books on philosophy.

After cracking the code Bruce gave the users to Natasha and Clint to run to find out who the clients were. They didn't manage to find any exciting leads, no important figures or criminals that they could see. Steve then sat with Bruce who patiently talked him through what he was doing now with looking over the genetic research. It was nice to feel included and Bruce didn't mind if he asked questions, no matter how silly they might sound.

Tony stood up approaching lunch time. "I got her!" Everyone gathered around. Tony had a map up with one building circled. "Check this out." He pulled up a picture of a girl on a driving licence. "Miss Sophie George." Steve blinked. She was very young, no older than twenty-five. She had mousey hair that sat around her shoulders, curly and messy. She had pale blue eyes that looked very flat in the photograph and a small mouth that looked cold. Tony pulled up other pictures from University clubs and graduation photographs. Now she looked lively, her eyes sparkled and always had a vague fair away look to them. Her smile showed teeth that were clean and nice, but not perfectly straight and neat. He quite liked how natural it was. And then it hit him.

"Hey, I know that girl." Everyone stared at him and Steve flushed. "Well, I don't know her personally. I bumped into that girl yesterday at the bike store. She was trying on helmets."

"I wonder if that's why she hacked SHIELD," Tony said, "She might have recognised you."

Steve shrugged. "I dunno, she looked kinda…dazed, to be honest. Like she wasn't all there."

"No, no. She's a genius, like me." No one responded. "Okay. Thanks guys. Glad you're all impressed. Anyway, she would have known who you were at a glance. This girl has top qualifications and a Masters Degree. She's lived in several countries and apart from her University records she's untraceable. She is good. But we have her address from her immigration records and we can go and get her."

"Wait," Natasha said, "How can you be sure this girl is Ari?"

"Because apart from Bruce and I no one else has the brains to pull an operation like this. This girl has an I.Q that's just…incredible. She's one in a billion."

"Well, fine, but if I was as smart as her I wouldn't put my real address on any forms. I'd have a second address. That's what I would do now." Natasha leaned back into the couch, looking at Tony with her eyebrow raised.

"Which is why we are lucky she lives in a block of apartments. We can search everyone if we have to." Tony smiled. "She's most likely living in that building but under a different address, in case people come looking. That's what _I_ would do, Natasha."

"Hey now," Steve said, "You can just go storming people's homes."

"We won't." Clint said, once again startling Steve. "We go to hers and hers alone, we keep a low profile with eyes outside to see if she tries to make a run for it. If we get access to cameras around that area we can keep an eye out and hopefully, she won't know we're coming."

"Director?" Natasha asked, looking to Fury to see what he had to say. Fury hadn't said a thing. He was staring at her picture.

"How old is this girl?"

"She's twenty-two. I have to go by her birth certificate and not the several, very real fake she owns across Europe. I imagine she found every way to slip through the system to get a government issued new identity without any trouble. "

"Where is she originally from?"

"England." Tony said. "She disappeared, ran away from home at sixteen."

_How do you even manage to run away across borders at that age?_ Steve wondered.

Fury still didn't say anything but stared at a picture of Sophie among a group of her university friends in the debating team. He looked at another picture of her in a computing club. Another in a chess club. "You go get her now." He got up and walked to the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Tony called after him.

"To find out who she is." Fury said as the doors closed.

There was an awkward silence. "Did you guys hear me telling him who she was? Oh good, so I wasn't talking to myself then."

* * *

Two hours later they approached Sophie's building. Clint stationed himself outside on an opposite roof that faced her window. Natasha led Steve inside. Despite her objections, Tony had come along and with her objections had left the suit behind. They didn't need the attention. Tony had quickly spoken to the building manager and then they all crept up to the third floor. Natasha went first, moving quietly along the walls and armed. Steve had asked why she felt the need to be armed; after all, this was only a girl, barely an adult.

Natasha knew age counted for nothing.

She knocked on the appropriate door. There was no answer. "Hello!" She called out and banged on the door repeatedly. "Steve, break it down."

"We can't just-"

"Steve," Tony said, having caught up with them. "I'd do it. This girl could be a lot more than she seems."

Natasha watched as Steve easily punched a hole in the door, reached in and unlocked it from the inside. They walked in, slowly. Natasha scanned every corner of the room. For someone making that amount of money, the apartment was not remarkable. It was clean and tidy but small. There was a bedroom, a bathroom, and the living room and kitchen was one room. There were DVDs and books neatly organised in shelves. There was a television and a laptop sat innocently on a counter.

"There is no way this is our girl." Steve said, looking through the shelves and then moving over to the kitchen. "I mean, even I know that this kind of operation involves more power than one screen and an oven."

Natasha watched as Tony went into the bedroom. "Where are you-"

"Shh!" Tony said and indicated they should follow. As quietly as they could they went into the bedroom. "Hear that?" Tony whispered. Natasha listened. At first all she could hear were the cars outside but then as she concentrated she heard the faint sound of humming. The gentle humming from a machine…

"Where is that even coming from?" Natasha whispered as Steve pressed his ears to the wall.

"The other side." He said, pointing to the wardrobe. Tony and Steve carefully pried open the doors and Natasha leaned through. She pushed aside the clothes and saw a hole in the bottom of the wardrobe, large enough for someone to squat through. Carefully and quietly, they pulled out the shoes littering the bottom to make it easier to climb through. Natasha quickly messaged Clint, telling him he'd have to move along to the next set of windows. She nodded at Tony and Steve and crawled through first. When she crawled out the other side, she made way for Tony and Steve and gaped at the amount of screens and computer towers squeezed around the room. One screen was running some kind of facial recognition programme while another was running endless numbers. Natasha couldn't make any sense out of anything she saw. It was maddening and she wondered how Ari could work here.

After getting over the shock of the room she looked into the centre. There was Ari, the girl from all the photographs sitting cross-legged on a pile of bean bag chairs and cushions. An empty bowl and mug sat on the floor as Ari typed away into a keyboard. She was wearing big headphones and was nodding away to whatever she was listening to and hadn't noticed them. Natasha paused, wondering what the best way to handle this was.

Tony had crept away to look at what was going on with the facial recognition. Natasha grabbed his jacket and pulled him back. "Not now. Later. You promised to behave."

"I am behaving, I'm investigating." Tony grinned.

"Well stop it." She hissed.

"Guys…" Steve said not even bothering to whisper. Natasha looked around. Ari's small face was peering over the top of her pile of cushions and the headphones were no longer on. There was none of that day-dreamy, happiness Natasha had seen in the photographs. This girl looked positively sick with terror. There was a horrible silence.

Then Ari leapt away. She got to her feet and ran not for the entrance, but for the wall. Natasha noticed there was a box built into it. She had no idea what was in the box, but she knew she didn't want Ari to touch it. She ran and cut Ari off. Ari skidded to a halt and then ran back to her keyboard. Tony grabbed it from out of her reach. The girl looked between all of them, completely helpless. Then, she kicked Tony in the knee and his hip. He dropped the keyboard as he doubled over. Ari picked it up and began typing erratically with one hand. Natasha didn't want to use any of her weapons unless it was necessary so she just ran to Ari to swipe the keyboard. Steve however, used his strength to easily rip it out of her hands. Natasha heard Clint in her ear, "Tell Steve to throw it."

"Steve, throw the keyboard."

"What?"

"Just do it!" She shouted. Steve threw the keyboard in the air and suddenly, it was pinned against the wall. One of Clint's arrows came smashing through the window, pierced through the keyboard, destroying it.

Ari stood in shock. "No." She ran for a computer tower at full speed and Natasha knew what she was trying to do. _She's trying to destroy everything. We took away her keyboard so now she'll risk it all._ Steve tackled Ari to the ground as gently as he could and Natasha ran over to secure her. There was little need. The girl just lay on the floor, sobbing hysterically in Steve's arms. Tony limped over and stood with Natasha. "I'll get other agents inside to start taking this stuff." Natasha said quickly, turning away. _If she's such a threat then why is she so afraid?_ She left, calling in everyone stationed outside feeling unusually uncomfortable.


	6. Chapter Five: Ari

Sophie had kept her head pressed against the cool metal of the table with her arms wrapped around her head ever since she had been left in the interview room. She knew that there were other people on the other side of the glass and she dared not show a single emotion until she'd composed herself or worked out a plan. She had thought they would take her to Stark Tower, but they'd taken her somewhere else completely different. She knew every route and bump and corner. Sophie had felt them head to the centre and then change course. She had lost where they were going and had broken down again.

Her eyes welled up again now. _No, stop it. That's stupid. You can't afford to look weak._ First things first, find out how much they knew about Ari and then how much they knew about her personally. As far as she knew, SHIELD knew nothing about her. However…things changed and sometimes they changed fast. They might know everything she could do. _X is equal to four._ What if they didn't let her out of their sight? What if they kept her? _The sky is blue because of particles…_

Sophie sat up and stared at the glass. _Ladies and agents…_ They would never know everything about her. She would never let them know everything she was capable of, only what they could work out for themselves. That was the safest option for the moment. _And if Fury comes in?_ A horrible shudder of fear ran through her. _There is nothing to be afraid of._ She continued to stare at the glass. Her fingers twitched. _I would kill for some paper._ _But not actual killing. Not like war killing. In the 1942 battle of Stalingrad the leaders were as follows…_

* * *

Steve had been sitting in behind the glass, watching Ari. _Sophie, her name is Sophie._ She had been staring at nothing through the glass for the last hour. Occasionally, she muttered to herself. Once she burst into a line of a song. Another time she banged her head off the table and screamed, "Seven!"

He was alarmed by this behaviour and wondered if Fury would get a psychologist in there with her before anything else happened. He wanted to go in and ask her if she was okay, if she wanted a glass of water or a cup of tea. Looking at Sophie, he couldn't really believe she was a criminal. She looked so lost and innocent.

Tony came in and sat on the table next to him. Steve looked up at the clock. "Hasn't she been in there a long time?"

"Fury's just putting together some pictures and records to take in there. I think he wants to question her himself." Tony watched as Sophie started talking to herself again about economics and then quickly went silent before tapping her hand on the table in a set rhythm. "Well isn't she fabulously cracked? I should have brought popcorn."

"This poor girl clearly has issues and you're entertained by it?"

"Oh yeah, I'm always entertained when I see people who steal from me behind a nice pane of one way glass." Tony crossed his arms. "I really can't wait to see what Fury dug up that I couldn't. Handy thing about friends who owe you big favours in the pentagon, they can get you anything. Plus you know, I'm Iron Man."

"How very like you." Steve said, watching Sophie again. She was silent now. He looked back at Tony. "What do you have?"

Tony didn't say anything. "I can't really say without sounding stupid."

"Tony, everyone thinks you sound stupid. Tell me." Tony gave him a little scowl.

"Okay, well…This girl had several I.Q tests when she was younger. A lot of companies and research bases and universities were very interested in her so they all wanted her to take their tests. When I told you earlier that this girl was a genius I was…very far out. Her I.Q is…It shouldn't be possible." Tony was looking at Sophie, his brow creased in a frown.

Steve wasn't sure he understood. "Is this a bad thing?"

"I don't know. What I do know is I don't like impossible things waltzing into my life and messing up the natural order of things."

Steve thought back to years and years ago. The sight of that skin ripping off the face to show the ruby layers underneath…"You and me both." He said, watching Sophie blink into space.

* * *

Natasha and Clint sat in with them as Fury entered the interview room. Steve was starting to wonder if he ought to go home. He wasn't really needed. Bruce wasn't here, he was away working. No one was making him stay; he could get up and walk out. It was his curiosity that kept him in his seat. And despite her crimes, this Sophie girl didn't seem dangerous. She was just gazing around the room. He just wanted to make sure she was treated right.

"She's afraid." Natasha said, suddenly. She had her eyes fixed intently on Sophie's face.

"How can you tell?" Steve asked. All he saw was a very composed person.

"It's in her eyes. She's afraid. And she got more afraid when Fury walked in the room." Natasha leaned forward. "I wonder if they've met. She seems like the kind of person to be recruited for the Avengers Initiative."

"Have you heard of her before?" Tony asked. Natasha shook her head.

"I was to assess people for it- like you, Tony. I was never told about her."

"Maybe Fury thought she was too young."

"It's possible." Natasha finished, shrugging.

They all sat in silence as Fury sat down across from Sophie. He had a file in his hands which he opened and laid out. "You get around. You have seven different identities. It was a lot of work trying to find your real one."

"Twelve."

"Excuse me?"

Sophie looked at Fury briefly and then starting looking around the room again, her eyes glazed over. Steve wondered if she had any friends or family and how they coped talking to someone who was always in a day dream. "I have twelve identities. You missed a few."

"Are you trying to be smart with me?"

"No, I just like correct facts. Facts are everything." Sophie looked at the glass again. Steve felt uncomfortable. It was like she was staring through it and into each of them.

"Do you have any idea what you're involved in?" Fury asked her.

"I am not involved with anything or anyone." Sophie looked at Fury now. "My operation is mine and only mine."

"Oh, we know that." Fury said. He slid two photographs towards her. "This man's daughter," He tapped one of the pictures, "Was kidnapped because of you. Did you know that?"

Sophie looked down at the picture and picked it up. "That's not possible."

"Well it happened."

"That sort of thing…It's not supposed to happen." Steve watched her face grow very pale. "I monitor everything about people who contact me."

"Clearly, you didn't do a good enough job."

"You're right. I'll need to rework my whole operation. Rethink how I'll get information. Perhaps I could come up with a new coded ch-"

"You won't have to do any of that because we are shutting your operation down." Sophie smiled and said nothing. Nick pulled back the photographs. "So why don't you tell me all about what you've been doing around the globe. You're not going anywhere, you may as well."

"No." She said.

"What?"

"I said no. It's a word. I will tell you about my six months in New York and that's it. You have no need to know about my life in other countries. Those are not your area."

Tony started laughing. "Are people allowed to talk to Fury like this?"

"You do." Natasha retorted.

"Yeah, but I'm me. This girl is…small and wears cat t-shirts and has a stuffed dinosaur in her room." Steve blinked at him. "What? You didn't pay attention when we were going through her wardrobe?"

"I was focused on the task at hand." Steve said, looking back into the interview room. He couldn't see Fury's face but he felt that he was losing his patience. Sophie wasn't giving away anything.

"Are you aware that there is a cell operating in New York who are very interested in using your services for potential harm?"

"I am. They contacted me twice and asked for things that even I had moral qualms about. They offered me a job but weren't specific, I was suspicious and broke off contact. I wanted nothing to do with weapon construction. "

"What kind of weapon were they building?"

"I don't know. I didn't stick around, but my guess is it's a bio-weapon; they seemed very interested in what I knew about biology. I freaked out and left." She looked back at Fury. "If I'm honest, I thought they were you guys trying to recruit me."

"Well I'm certainly not going to recruit you but I can tell you now we aren't letting you go."

"Isn't that against my rights? I read that once in a book of law."

"You're a criminal. You steal and hack. I can hold you here." Sophie glared at Fury. "And I have good grounds to hold you."

"Except those grounds you only found out in the last twelve hours, you're going to act like you knew about me all along but I know that you didn't. I hack SHIELD every six months like clockwork to see if you picked me up yet. The only reason I got caught now was because I took some files from you." Sophie said in one breath, like she was reciting from a script. Tony was up against the glass, torn between laughter and shock. "Your grounds for keeping me on a criminal charge are flimsy because unless you can break into my computer you have no proof I did anything, I have enough money for bail and I have top lawyer friends around the globe. Also, unlike Captain Tightpants through there I don't just accept that SHIELD made me or found me therefore they own me."

Steve looked around the room, but everyone was focused on Sophie. _Do I come across that way?_ _I don't see myself that way. I know Tony hated the idea of working for SHEILD but I don't work for them I just…They just look after me, that's it._

The muscles in the back of Fury's head were tightened. "I don't know how you got that brain of yours, but I know that it was through us."

"Would you like to know? Because that is something I'm actually happy to tell you." Sophie said. Her face had grown flushed. While Steve could finally see the fear in her eyes that Natasha had seen there was something bold in there too. "My mother was a prostitute and one of your agents on that programme got lonely. Nine months later I'm in a children's home." There was a horrible, awkward pause. "Do you ever think about just how lonely your agents get? Do you even care at all?"

"How dare you talk to me like that." Fury's voice was very low.

"Shit." Tony said. "He's going to skin her alive."

"It's fine," Sophie said, "Because I'm done talking to you. I never want to talk to you again."

"You don't get to make that choice."


	7. Chapter Six: Ari Part Two

Everyone was waiting outside in the corridor when Fury came outside. He looked livid. Natasha stood beside Clint with her arms folded. Steve and Tony stood a little behind them. Fury glanced at them, grunted and pushed past. Natasha turned on her heels and followed him. "You going to tell us what that was all about?" She kept up with him as Fury stormed into a rec room and started pouring himself a very large mug of coffee. "Seriously, director, what is going on here?"

"We have a right to know, we did just bring you this…incredibly, ah, dangerous criminal." Clint said. "And her great skills in annoyance."

"And madness." Tony said. "Do not forget how bat-shit insane this kid is. Steve and I saw her trying to count the fibres in her shoelaces. Tell him, Cap."

"And I quite frankly would like to know what she means by 'programme'." Natasha added.

Fury turned to them all. Natasha didn't blink an eyelash. She wasn't like little Ari through there, she wasn't afraid of a man like Fury. Fury sat down on the couch.

"SHIELD operates in other countries and other countries have their own versions of SHIELD. We were working with the British together on a programme for mind enhancement that started about twenty five years ago. We wanted to increase memory in our agents- temporarily, mind you. You know, being able to walk through a room, gather information and report back without the risk of someone stealing what you wrote or typed." Fury drank from his mug and Natasha sat down across from him. "The programme lasted about five years before we had to shut it down. The drugs we were using either didn't work or stuck with an agent for months. They'd get an aneurism and die. Happened too often and we ran out of volunteers."

"So, what?" Tony asked, sitting down and putting his feet up on the coffee table. "Some agent with this drug knocked up a prostitute and we end up with genius through there? That is really far-fetched."

"Any more far-fetched than what happened to me?" Steve said, quietly from the corner. "As Tony once said, everything about me that's special comes out of a bottle."

Natasha frowned at Fury. "Are you telling me you had no idea that this had happened?"

Fury glared at her. She could see a vein pulsing in his temple. "Yes." He finally said, reluctantly. "No one knew that we'd…Succeeded. I suppose that's how you could put it. I guessed she had to be connected with our programme…Wasn't really expecting what she told me."

Natasha leant back into the couch. "Then I don't understand why she's afraid of you. You walked in that room and she recognised you and she was ready to run."

"I've never even seen her until today." He insisted. He stood up. "Now excuse me, Agent Romanoff, but I'm going to go and see what else I can maybe dig up. Find out if her story is true. You know, work." He walked out of the room, quietly and muttering angrily to himself. Natasha looked at the ceiling, folded her arms again and scowled.

"How much mind enhancement are we talking about, do you think?"

Tony shrugged. "My guess is we won't find out because she's not talking to Fury. This at least explains that really ridiculous I.Q I found."

"How ridiculous?"

"Like, it breaks all reasoning and every test ridiculous." Tony replied. "I wish this hadn't happened. I could so use this girl on my team. We'd solve so many issues in a few short years."

Clint raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure if she wanted a job she could probably have her pick. I doubt she would want to work for you."

"Who wouldn't want to work for me?" Tony asked. Everyone put up their hand. "Hey, Romanoff, I wasn't that bad a boss."

"Only because Pepper was there." Natasha said, dryly. "She brought some sanity to your house." Natasha looked back up at the ceiling. _I wonder why she's so scared. She's strong, independent, clever, can look after herself…_ A little smile came to her. _Maybe I have a kindred spirit. I wonder if I could get through to her._

Steve spoke up suddenly. He'd been looking a little down since they'd left the room. Natasha looked at his face. He'd been looking more and more tired each time she saw him. _You never let go of your nightmares, but you can at least learn to live with them. You have to perk up, Steve._ "Is Fury going to keep her here?"

"Well, I would guess so." Clint said.

"But that would be pointless. She's not going to talk to Fury."

"She might talk to us." Tony said. "If we're nice. Maybe we can bribe her with pizza. All young people like pizza, don't they?"

"Tony-"

"You're right; she would probably prefer an encyclopaedia."

"Tony!" Steve shouted. "I am trying to be serious here." He took a small breath. "I was thinking…We get her away from Fury. Get him to agree that Sophie can say…" He looked at Tony. "Live at Stark Tower under observation. We can find out more about her."

"No." Clint and Natasha said together. Clint then continued, "Fury will never agree to her staying away from SHEILD. He's as spooked by this girl as she is of him. He doesn't understand how SHIELD could not have known about her."

"Oh come on, SHIELD can't know everything." Tony retorted. "They didn't even know what we were all fully capable of until Loki attacked the city. They probably have a lot of 'talents' wandering around that they've missed and I bet you many agents have kids out in the world that no one knows about. These things happen."

"These things do happen." Clint agreed. "But he will not agree to it. Mostly because he still has some trust issues with you, Tony."

"Me?" He looked genuinely surprised. "Me?"

"Like Ari you hacked into SHIELD. But, you went further and exposed him and what he was doing with the Tesseract."

Tony rolled his eyes. "I really would have thought he'd be over that by now after I risked my life to save everyone. And Steve helped with all that exposing."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "But Steve is an angel. And you're not."

"Anyway," Tony grumbled, "Back to the matter at hand. I agree with Steve and we move her away from SHIELD."

Natasha looked at Tony thoughtfully. _It might not be a bad idea…I bet Ari would love Bruce and all those labs…It'd be like bribing a child with candy._ "Well," she said, "Why don't you three go and ask Fury. Maybe you can come up with an arrangement."

"And where are you going to go?" Tony asked.

"I'm going to go and ask Ari why she's so scared of Fury." Natasha said. "Because then maybe she'll cooperate more if I tell her we'll move her away from him."

"Fair enough." Tony said, standing up. "Legolas, Captain Tightpants, with me."

Steve narrowed his eyes at Tony. "That is not my name."

"I'm sorry, but it is now. It's going in my phone and everything. That kid really is a genius."

* * *

Natasha stepped into the interview room. Ari looked over at her, flinching just slightly. Only Natasha would have picked it up. She watched as the muscles in her face relaxed. Natasha kept eye contact as she came over to the table and sat in the chair. She made sure to sit casually, with her legs crossed and hands clasped in her lap. Ari's eyes were a little red and sticky. Natasha guessed she would have started crying again. _I wonder…Would I have cried if I had been raised differently?_

"Are you here to interrogate me?" Natasha shook her head. "Kill me?" Natasha laughed a little.

"No. I don't just kill people because they pissed off my boss." She said, softly, taking care to sound as warm as she could. "I guess you read my file?"

Ari nodded and bit her lip a little. "I figured…If I saw you, it would be because you had to kill me. I freaked a little at my place. I thought…" She trailed off.

"I know. Lots of people think that." Natasha said. She leaned on the table a little. "Listen. We are working on getting you out of this building and away from Fury. You're afraid of him. More afraid of him than I have ever seen a person."

"Y-You'll take me away from here?" Ari's face both drained and flushed. _Hope and fear._

Natasha nodded. "If we can. But there will be rules. And a price." Ari's mouth twisted a little. "I just want to know…Why did you take our files and why you are so scared of Fury."

For a moment Ari said nothing. She seemed to be studying Natasha and then she looked away and starting looking at the walls. Natasha waited patiently. _Does she ever stop thinking?_ "The hypotenuse is eight point seven."

Natasha blinked. "I'm sorry?"

Ari looked at Natasha, like she only just noticed she was there. "If we take the tiles, cut them into right angled triangles, the hypotenuse of those triangles would be eight point seven."

"How…How could you work that out?"

"It's not accurate. I used my fingers to count the centimetres when I first got in here. If I get a ruler I could measure it properly."

"Why on earth-" Natasha stopped herself. _You are getting side-tracked. And for all you know, that's what she wants._ "Ari-"

"Sophie. My name is Sophie." Ari said, quietly.

"I'm sorry. Sophie- please, tell me why you are so scared of Nick Fury."

Ari tilted her head to the side. "Have you ever read his file?" Natasha shook her head. "All that's in there is his name, date of birth minus the year, and where he custom orders eye patches. Which was lucky because for Halloween-"

"Why is that scary?" Natasha said, quickly.

"Because that's it. That's all." Natasha watched Ari's eyes which were wide with horror. It was like thinking about this file was making her sick. Suddenly, it dawned on Natasha what Ari was driving at. _She can't comprehend no information._ _That's as alien to her as we were to Thor._ _Her poor mind must be reeling._

"I think I understand what you mean." Natasha said, slowly. She leaned forward. "Between us…Girl to girl; did you find out anything about him?"

"No. I was running facial recognition when you guys burst in. But…I don't think I would have gotten any results."

Natasha smiled a little. _Smart kid._ "I'll get you out of here." She leaned back into her chair, watching as Ari's face became less serious. "So why did you take our files?"

"You were all over the news last year and then I got asked for them, so I figured maybe I'd see what the fuss was about." Ari shrugged. "Wouldn't have bothered selling it. It's not the kind of information people should have."

"Which is why you shouldn't have it. But we'll maybe forgive you for that, in time." Natasha said. "I take it you know us all inside and out."

"Except for the last two." Ari said. "They only had their code names, not their real names as well so I was planning to hack back in to see if I could find those under a separate file."

"Code names?" Natasha asked, confused.

"Yeah." Ari said, perking up a little. "Like, your file is 'Black Widow', but underneath it there's your real name. 'Iron Man'; Tony Stark, 'Captain America'; Steve Rodgers and so on. The Thor file didn't have his real name and neither did your 'hostile' file on that… Loki." Natasha noticed her eyes darkened a little. Worldwide, people had been affected, but none more so than the people of New York and Ari hadn't even been in the country at the time. She'd been in Japan. _Perhaps people she knew were hurt._

"Those aren't their codenames. Those are their real names."

"What kind of weirdo parents did they have?" Ari frowned.

"I shouldn't be telling you this, but you will no doubt find out anyway. Being…you. Those are actually Thor and Loki."

Ari stared at Natasha with alarmingly wide eyes. "That's not possible."

"Well, it is now. Those are really the gods that people worshipped."

"This…This changes so much. Like, theories and-"

"That's why we haven't gone public, so we'd appreciate it if you kept that to yourself." Natasha watched as Ari broke out into a sweat. She looked sick again and was clutching at the table.

"Could you get me some paper and a pen?"

"I'm sorry." Natasha stood up. "I can't. You look a little ill, I'm going to go and get you some water and find out what's happening." She headed for the door.

"Natasha!" Ari called out and Natasha turned back in surprise. She'd sounded so desperate. "I am begging you…please…I need pen and paper." Her eyes were welling up again.

"I can't give you anything you might use as a weapon. I'm sorry." Natasha walked out. As she closed the door, she thought she heard Ari pleading.

* * *

"Absolutely not." Fury said, sounding both amused and outraged. "You think I'm letting her out of this building?"

"Come on." Tony said, getting to his feet. "I have the best security. She can hack her way through a computer but she won't be able to hack her way around people with guns and pepper spray."

"My answer is no." Fury snapped.

Tony rolled his eyes. Fury was sitting behind a desk. Through the other room, SHEILD personal were doing his bidding at computers. Running names, photos, data; anything he wanted. Fury's office was tidy but very bare. There was little in it to distinguish him as a person apart from a spare coat hanging on the door and a certificate on the wall belonging to Tony's father. _Was Dad ever in this office? Maybe he worked here in this room._ "Fury, I'm telling you, we need this girl on our side and she isn't going to do that with you dancing around her like the bogey man."

"I do not want her on our side. I want her contained until I can figure out what to do with her. That girl is dangerous and hostile."

"Yeah, she's so dangerous, serenading empty rooms and reciting her times tables." Tony retorted. "Clint, Steve, help me out here."

Steve shuffled awkwardly in the corner. "Well…She doesn't seem dangerous. She didn't attack us."

"That's true." Clint said. "She's not dangerous at all. She's timid. I think getting out of here would do her some good. She'd be so happy at Stark Tower. Let her tour the labs, give her some space. Like it or not, we need someone like her to cooperate and work alongside us."

"I do not want her."

"Well you'll just have to let her out."

"We aren't letting her go."

"Then we can't keep her here against her will unless we do something with her." Clint shot back. "She had a point. And I bet you can't charge her with anything because I'm betting you're not having any luck with her computers."

Fury's face twisted into an ugly, frustrated expression. Tony patted Clint on the shoulder. "You are my new favourite person." He then looked back to Fury, admiring the expression Clint had caused. "How about this…Until you can find evidence to charge her with something…She stays with me in protective custody. This group we know nothing about may come after her. You never know. And as we're making no headway with that, you may as well give up some of your agents to monitor my building to make sure she isn't sneaking out."

Fury said nothing. His nostrils flared a little. "There will be sixteen agents to monitor this until we get a lead. Agents Romanoff and Barton will take turns staying with you to keep an eye on everything. Agent Hill will also report in once a day to check everything is fine. I will also stop in when I have a spare moment." He stood up and kept eye contact with Tony. Tony was sure Fury did this to intimidate people, but he never felt anything. Fury was only another man. "I still do not trust you."

"I don't really care." Tony shrugged and then beamed at Steve and Clint. "Do you think we could have a sleepover? Get some pizza, our nails done, you know, girl stuff to make her feel welcome."

"You are unbelievably stupid sometimes." Steve said, shaking his head.

"And possibly a little gay." Clint said, with a smirk.

"Hey, wipe that-" Tony began before he was interrupted by Fury's desk com buzzing. Fury pressed the button.

"Director Fury."

"Director," came Natasha's voice, sounding worried and scared. "Director, two medics just headed into Interview Room One. What's going on?"

"I have no idea. Go find out, we'll join you."

Clint held the door open as they rushed out.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked Tony as they hurried after Fury whose strides were long and powerful. From a distance he'd looked like he was walking, but Tony found he had to jog some paces just to keep up.

"Interview Room One is where we put Sophie." Tony said. Steve swallowed and picked up the pace. Tony huffed a little and managed to keep up as Fury pushed the door open and hurried in. Sophie was sitting up on the floor. One medic was dabbing at a deep wound in the palm of her left hand while the other was talking to her. Natasha was standing aside, looking uncharacteristically horrified. Tony looked at the table. One of the sharp corners was covered in blood and a few strips of flesh. _Like she banged her hand repeatedly off it. But why would she do that?_ Tony looked back at Natasha and followed her gaze. On the floor beside Sophie was writing. Numbers, letters, words, formula and symbols. He hadn't spotted it because the medic was kneeling over it.

Sophie was white and was just staring at the medic that was trying to ask her questions. "I just wanted paper…paper…I need some paper…"

Tony looked at Fury. "You still think she's a danger to you?"

"No…"Fury muttered. "But people who are dangerous to themselves are just as bad for an operation like ours as our friend Doctor Banner has proved." Tony didn't answer, he just watched Sophie mumble.


	8. Chapter Seven: First Night

_AN: I have decided to change the rating to 'T' for this fan fic to suit language and scenes later to come._

Tony had called a car for them but Fury insisted Clint drive one of SHIELD's cars instead. It was night now and Steve had only just noticed he was hungry. Natasha had left, going to Sophie's place to get her some clothes. After they'd calmed Sophie down and given her a pad and pen, she'd scribbled away as though none of them were in the room. Eventually she flung it down and yawned before slumping against the wall and staring drowsily at her shoes. Tony had taken photographs of all the bloody writing and each page of the pad she'd written on. He'd pulled Steve aside and asked if he wouldn't mind just staying for one night while they got things sorted. Tony was now starting to doubt if he could look after Sophie. "Looking after a genius is one thing, but a mad one who may use her own blood as ink is another. Just help me for tonight at least. Stay close by in case something happens." Steve agreed and they had bundled into the car with Sophie and Steve in the back, Tony in the front with Clint driving. Sophie wasn't muttering to herself now. She seemed very tired.

Steve wasn't sure if he should try and make conversation or not. He wasn't sure what they would talk about. If Tony was in his place, no doubt all he and Clint would be hearing was talk about physics and engineering. Fury had been going over grounds rules with Tony and for all he knew certain topics were banned. "I'm not crazy." Sophie muttered.

"Excuse me?" Steve said, cautiously, not sure if she was talking to herself. Sophie looked at him.

"I'm not crazy. I mean, I am crazy, but not like insane crazy like you think I am. I'm just normal crazy. Like, mad but not too mad."

He gaped at her a little. "Ah, well… That's really good to know." He looked down at her bandaged hand. _Mad…_

Sophie clutched her hand. "I couldn't help it."

"We know, kid." Said Clint from the front. "We know."

"We do?" Asked Tony.

"Of course we do. There's a reason I'm called 'Hawkeye', I'm good at seeing things." Clint said and looked at Sophie in the mirror. "We're not here to judge we just want to help."

Sophie didn't look at Clint, just stared at her lap. Steve wondered if she had cried herself out for the day. "It's like OCD. I just can't help it. I have to write things down… I'm normally good at controlling it but… What Natasha told me just set me over the edge." She looked at Tony, almost pleadingly. "I promise I'll try and not let it happen again."

Tony's shoulders relaxed a little. "It's okay. I'll just keep lots of paper and pens around the place."

Sophie smiled weakly at Tony in the mirror. "I'm a big fan of your work." Tony's face split into a wide grin.

* * *

The rest of the journey was fairly quiet. Clint put on some music and nodded his head along. Sophie asked Tony a few questions which he was all too happy to answer. She was well read on his papers and he rather enjoyed the look on Steve's face as he tried to understand what was being said. Tony listened carefully to everything Sophie said. They got caught in a small traffic jam for twenty minutes before pulling up at Star Tower. Sophie rubbed at her bandaged hand nervously. _I hope Pepper took all the sharp things out the room…_He watched Steve put his hand on her shoulder and squeeze it before they followed Tony inside. They didn't go up to his floor, but the floor underneath it. "Upstairs is a living area, my computer JARVIS will let you in if you want to watch TV or…hang out with us- if you want." He added, showing her to a room. "I'm upstairs if you need anything."

"Um…" Sophie was going around the room, touching the bed which a large black travel bag was resting on. She stared at the large screen mounted on the wall and prodded at the remote. She inspected the desk and found a drawer stuffed with pads, pens, pencils and rulers. "This whole room is nicer than my flat."

"I have taste." Tony said. "Natasha packed you a lot. Your other bags are out here." He stood a little awkwardly in the doorway. "So, Clint and Steve are on this floor too… I'll send you some dinner. Anything in particular you'd like?"

Sophie shrugged. "I don't mind."

"Okay, well goodnight." He said, shutting her door. _Please don't do anything stupid. _He turned around and saw Steve leaning in the doorway opposite. "You really want to sleep across from her?"

"You wanted someone close by." Steve said.

"Steve, she'll probably talk science in her sleep and keep you up all night."

"I'll be fine." He said.

"In which case, I'm going to see Pepper. Goodnight." He beamed and hurried to the elevator. He impatiently pressed the button and waited to step out the other side. The lights were on a soft setting and Pepper was curled up on the couch in her pyjamas, a bottle of wine and two glasses were laid on the table, watching the news. She smiled when he came over and sat beside her.

"You know, when I said in a few years we could maybe think about kids I wasn't expecting you to bring home a ready-made one."

"That is harsh to say about Steve." Tony said, pouring out a glass of wine for himself. Pepper giggled and took a sip for her own glass.

"So, why did I need to empty our stationary into her room?"

Tony sighed. "It's a long and horrible story I'd rather save for the morning."

"Could you at least tell me something about this Sophie? Because I could see this as you relapsing to your old ways and revoke your girlfriend privileges."

"If you do that I would revoke your Tony Stark privileges. And those are pretty valuable." Pepper hit him with a cushion. "That's rude." He smiled at her. "No, she's just a very interesting genius."

"And nothing to do with SHEILD?" Pepper said, raising her eyebrows.

"That is something we're still…working on." Tony said. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her. "Can we please just go to bed?"

"Of course." Pepper smiled at him.

* * *

Steve tossed and turned in his bed, kicking at the covers. He'd eaten and then got straight to bed to doze. Dozing was as far as he was getting. He eventually threw the covers off and sat up, rubbing his eyes. It was another night of no sleep. He got up and went along to the guest bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face. _Well, maybe JARVIS can pull up some documentaries for me._ He walked slowly back to his room, enjoying the cool air of the evening being let in through the windows. _Maybe the outside is ugly…But the inside is lovely._ He thought to himself.

As he got back to his room he noticed the faint blue glow under Sophie's door, the glow he associated with his own late nights in his apartment. He knocked gently on the door. "It's open." He heard.

He opened the door quietly and peaked inside. Sophie was sitting up in bed against the headboard, propped up against her many pillows. The stuffed dinosaur from her apartment was perched in her lap. Her dinner tray was sitting on the desk and the television was on. "Can't sleep?" She shook her head, glancing at him briefly. "Want me to leave?"

"You can stay, but I'm not doing anything exciting."

He closed the door and came and sat on the edge of the bed. "What are you watching?"

"A documentary on sea turtles. Then I was going to watch an actual movie." She patted the space beside her, eyes fixed on the screen. "You can sit here. Five hundred and two." He shuffled up and stretched out his legs beside hers. His eyes flickered between the screen and her face. Sophie was mouthing words to herself that didn't match what was going on, but he felt she was still paying attention. He noticed that under her eyes had very dark shadows. Steve touched the skin under his own eyes. _I must look pretty bad. I never thought about it._ He supposed he must have adjusted to seeing his reflection that way.

"Do you also not sleep?" She asked him quietly. He shook his head, unable to think of a proper reply. "Me neither. It's hard to sleep when you think all the time. Squares. Brain keeps going even when you're asleep."

"Ouch." He said, pulling a pillow a little further up his back. "I, uh, I just…Have bad dreams."

"That's okay. Nothing to be ashamed of." She said and then turned to look at him. "I'm a big fan of yours too."

"Excuse me?" He asked, perplexed.

She smiled and looked back at the screen. "When I moved back to Germany last year you were a hero. You swooped in and saved the day over there, so for like a month everywhere reran old 'Captain America' movies. I saw quite a lot of them." Steve felt his face flush. "May I say that your new suit is a great improvement on the old one." Steve had to laugh a little.

"Well…Nice to know."

They stayed up for the next three hours before Sophie finally relaxed in a heap. He pulled her covers over her shoulders and went back to his own room. He managed to catch a few hours himself before getting up once more to shower and have breakfast in the guest kitchen with Clint. Bruce joined them a few minutes later, making himself some toast. "Morning." Clint said, peaking at Bruce over the top of his newspaper.

"Morning." Bruce said, sitting across from Steve. "So, I hear we have a guest."

"Oh yes." Clint said, smiling a little. "And she is quite the package."

"Tony said he wanted to bring her by my lab…"

"She won't be a problem." Steve said. "She's actually quite normal and very nice. I stayed up with her watching some things."

"Wow. Don't you move fast? You only met her yesterday." Clint grinned at Steve.

"Very funny." He looked at Bruce. "Trust me, she'll be fine." They heard a squeak from the doorway. Bruce jumped in alarm and Clint stood up. Steve just caught the heels of some pyjama bottoms. "I'll…Go see to that." He said and hurried out along the corridor towards Sophie's room. The door was open and she was raking through one of her bags. "Sophie, are you okay?"

"Yes. No. I have no idea." She held up some tattered jeans and threw them aside, rummaging until she found some that looked brand new and hardly worn. She laid them on the bed and started pulling out t-shirts and tops.

"Sophie…"

"Do you have any idea who you were sitting with?"

"Um…Bruce and Clint?" He paused.

"Exactly. Bruce Banner. I am such a huge fan of his work, I mean, I knew he was working with Stark Industries now but I had no idea he was actually living with Tony Stark and now I live in the same building as _the_ Bruce Banner and oh my God, he nearly saw me in my pyjamas; what kind of an impression is that?"

"Could you breathe?" Steve asked, edging into the room. He pulled the t-shirt she was holding out of her hands. "Word of advice, don't wear green today. Try something a little calming in colour." Steve watched her babble with excitement as she pulled out more clothes, finding a pale blue shirt to wear. Steve left her to get ready as she recited some numbers, a wide smile on his face. _Bruce is not going to even know what hit him._

* * *

Sometimes when Bruce entered the lab in the morning he already had a plan of action. He and Tony were working on several things together and sometimes they overlapped, sometimes he worked on one thing for days or weeks, and some days he stood around the lab unsure of where to start first. He had woken up in a bright mood and knew that today he would walk in with a plan formulated over breakfast. Two of Ari's computers had been unlocked when they were taken and one of his jobs was to work out what was running on one of them. He'd decided to work on that as soon as he got to the lab. However, after breakfast he spent most of the morning tapping away at keys and getting nowhere. _I don't want a visitor._ _I'm happy and peaceful here._

At exactly eleven o'clock, Tony walked in the door, beaming away. "Good morning!"

"Morning, Tony." Bruce leaned to the side to look behind him at the girl from the photographs. She wandered in, looking around the room with her mouth slightly open in amazement. She bumped into a table and didn't even seem to notice as she moved away to stare at a couple of his screens. "Excuse me." Tony held up a finger to Bruce and crept over to Sophie. He put his hands on her shoulders and guided her toward Bruce. "This way."

"But I want to look at-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can do that in a minute. I'd like you to meet my good friend, Doctor Banner."

Sophie's cheeks went pink and she smiled a little shyly. Bruce awkwardly extended a hand which she took. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you." She replied, a little breathlessly. "I have read all your papers."

"I hope they didn't bore you."

"Not at all, I haven't read anything so wonderfully original before."

"She's like a mini you, Tony." He said as Sophie edged away again, her curiosity leading her to look at a screen with a diagram of a circuit.

"But I'm better looking." Tony said, watching Sophie.

"Tony, what am I supposed to do with her?"

"_We_. I'll be here the whole time. We just let her… Potter around and see what she can do." Tony reassured him. "And we are just going to do a little experiment. Find out how this amazing memory of hers works."

"You're certain it's just a memory thing?"

"Positive. When I was talking to her in the car last night she recited entire chunks of my work. She may not even be clever, it's just her mind stores everything. We just need to subtly poke and prod to get information…"

"Have you tried asking?"

"She wouldn't budge with Fury or Natasha, she isn't going to budge-"

"Hey, Sophie." Bruce ignored Tony and strolled over to Sophie. She was typing into the computer with the circuit, bringing up the simulation and watching it. _I should put passwords on everything._ "Sophie, what exactly makes you so clever?"

"I have a perfect memory. I remember everything I see, hear, smell, touch, read, feel; the list goes on." She said, clicking something else. "By the time I was three I knew all the words to my 'Grimm Fairy Tales' collection.

Bruce looked at Tony and smiled. "See? All you had to do was ask."

"Well she didn't answer Fury." Tony objected.

Sophie spun in the chair. "Fury wanted to know about my operation and why I was so smart. He didn't ask what in particular _made_ me smart. Plus, he isn't Doctor Bruce Banner." She got up and ran over to another desk, peering down at some models.

Tony frowned. "I think I'm going to hate this kid."

"Why? She's you." Bruce laughed. "Maybe we can ask her next if she wouldn't mind giving us her passwords."

Sophie looked at him. "Apples." She turned away and looked up at a screen.

"Is that… is that your password?"

"Password?" She looked at him, confused. "Apples are not a password. Apples are a fruit."

Tony smiled. "Okay, I like her again. I like a crazy person. They're like fun puzzles to work out." They watched Sophie move around for a little while. She stopped in front of the screen that was running endless numbers, the numbers that she had been running in her apartment. Bruce felt an itch of nervousness, wondering what Sophie would do. She turned away and pounced on Tony's arm, pulling him over to a work bench, asking questions like an excited child.

Bruce looked up at the numbers. _If only I knew what you were._


	9. Chapter Eight: Tower Life

Everyone adjusted to a new life at Stark Tower. Steve visited every day when he wasn't working and Clint and Natasha rotated around. Sophie kept movies rolling and her and Clint spent a good deal of time playing games on the many consoles Sophie had that Natasha had brought over for them. Tony kept Sophie under his eye and let her run around Bruce's lab. Bruce had been worried that Sophie's constant talking to herself would irritate him to a dangerous point, but it soon became just another background noise in the lab. Sophie, like Steve and Bruce himself, had issues with sleep patterns. Sometimes she fell asleep when watching movies with everyone after dinner and sometimes she curled up on a table in the lab for a couple of hours. Mostly, she kept to herself either reading books or playing about with experiments and simulations. Tony had placed restrictions on what she could access through JARVIS, but it still made Bruce uneasy. _I just know she'll find a way around it._

On the second day Sophie had been living with them she had suffered from a heavy nosebleed. She brushed it off, explaining that it happened quite a lot. Tony had had her taken to a hospital for scans despite Sophie's protests. They'd left Sophie to playing a board game with Steve while they looked over them. "There's nothing wrong with her brain." Bruce had said after the sixth time. "It's all healthy and working."

"You don't just get nosebleeds because, 'I think too hard sometimes'." Tony snapped.

"Maybe it's just a general side effect of whatever it was that made her memory the way it is. She gets nosebleeds. Steve can't get drunk. I… I turn green. Other effects happen."

Tony had grudgingly accepted Bruce's final word and then stocked up on tissues and bandages. "I will have to have a personal rain forest with the amount of paper we're now using."

Bruce had continued working through Sophie's notes as they came to him and working through her computer. They managed to get into four of seven of them. Sophie hadn't seemed to mind, or for that matter, notice. He'd been fascinated by the programmes she'd developed and alarmed by the kind of information she had stored away. _This sort of stuff you'd need top level clearance to have…_

On Friday Sophie had skipped into the lab escorted by Tony who was munching down a bowl of cereal as he walked. Today, Tony wanted to work a little more on Stark Tower's energy supply. The success of the prototype had fuelled his enthusiasm to work on improvement. Bruce laid aside the files he was looking and pulled up on the screens some calculations he'd been working on.

Sophie muttered to herself and sang as she slipped on some reading glasses and started working on something she'd been constructing at a lab bench. Bruce had wanted to stop her building anything in case she was planning to make a weapon. Tony had taken it apart when Steve had taken Sophie up for lunch and confirmed all she was doing was putting some magnets together. "I don't even see what she would use a box of magnets for."

After about an hour, they'd built a working small scale model. They tweaked around with it and ran some simulations. One simulation resulted in a small lab fire which Tony hastily put out. Just as they were approaching lunch time Bruce felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something was wrong. _It's quiet._ Despite Tony's constant stream of bragging, joking and talking there was a silence. _Sophie isn't there…_ He turned around immediately to look for her. Tony looked up as well. "What's wrong?"

"Sophie hasn't said a word in a while." Bruce said quietly. Sophie was standing in front of the screen with the numbers. Bruce had given up working them out for now. There was no pattern, just a never ending random generation. She titled her head from side to side, watching the screen. "Do you think we should move her away?"

"No, no." Tony said, moving forward slightly. "Let's just see what she does." Sophie touched the screen. "It's like watching Animal Planet."

"Tony, be serious for once." Bruce watched as Sophie pulled the keyboard out from under the screen. She typed something in. The screen went blank for a second and then the numbers reappeared. Bruce couldn't see anything different before he noticed that some green numbers had turned up now. They stayed green for a moment before fading away into the blur of black and white. "What did you just do?"

Sophie jumped and turned to look at them, as though she'd only just realised they were in the room. "They were incorrect. I had to fix it."

"The numbers. Right. What are they exactly?" Tony asked.

Sophie frowned just a little. "I don't actually know."

"How can _you_ not know?" Tony demanded.

"I just don't. I see them, sometimes. When I sleep, when I close my eyes. Sometimes… They just appear. I don't know what they are but I'm going to find it out."

"Are they correct now?"

"Probably not. I'll fix them when I spot another mistake." She said, shrugging it off. "It's Friday."

"Well done." Tony said, sitting back in his chair. "I too have a calendar."

Sophie sat in another chair and wheeled herself over to them. "Friday is club night."

"Club night?"

"Every Friday I go to my friend Frank's club. You know, dance, sing, let off some steam, get very drunk and hopefully take a stranger to a hotel."

"You are not going out to a club." Tony said.

"Why not? I've been in here all week. I normally always go out. Let me go out tonight. You can have people come with me."

"If you wanted to go to a park or shopping that would be fine, but a loud, noisy, crowded club is not on. Too many things can go wrong with that."

"You can't keep me in here forever."

"Until I hear otherwise that is unfortunately what I have to do."

Sophie stood up, her face flushed. "No it isn't. You're just all in SHEILD's pocket." She stormed out of the room before either of them could move.

"I am not. Who does she think she is?" Tony fumed, glaring at the lab doors. "I better tell Natasha to make sure she doesn't wander off." He pulled out his phone. Bruce left Tony to it and walked over to the numbers. _She fixed a mistake…but if she put these numbers in the system from memory… then why would there be a mistake? And how would she know to fix it?_

Bruce pulled out the photographs of the bloody writing again. _Tony…I think you made a big mistake bringing that girl here._ He would need to test his theory first.

* * *

Sophie made a big show of going to her room. She made sure everyone knew that that was where she was planning to spend the rest of the night. She turned on a film and started getting ready. She packed her shoulder bag with her purse, a mobile she'd swiped for emergencies and a black dress with a flowing skirt. She refused to be told what to do. She hated all these restrictions. Natasha had followed her to the kitchen and bedroom to make sure she didn't run away. _There is no way they are taking away from me my one night a week when I get to actually have fun._

Getting out of the tower was going to be tricky, but of course, Tony had handed her all the answers. She couldn't believe just how stupid he and Bruce were. They had their backs turned and she carefully stole the Loki and Thor files she had been denied. She also downloaded some video footage of Natasha. She stole one of the many USB pens that were left in a drawer. As no one else had access to the lab, security on the drawers wasn't so tight. She'd taken one and stolen the files off of Bruce's personal computer that didn't have JARVIS lurking around on it. _If it wasn't for you, JARVIS, I'd never have met my greatest challenge. And I wouldn't be in here either…_

Like Sophie had hacked into Stark Tower, Tony Stark would no doubt be able to hack her and he had started succeeding. She didn't want to be around forever. _Some things they just shouldn't know about me._ She'd thrown them a bone with the perfect memory. It wasn't a lie, she had a perfect memory. _But you don't see past the brain, do you?_

Sophie quietly pulled out a screwdriver from under her bed. She'd stolen that too, when their eyes were turned. She'd given up the jeans and wore loose flowing dresses into the lab so that she could stuff things into her underwear without noticeable bumps. Three screwdrivers, a pen drive and the device she was building had all been smuggled out thanks to the invention of underwear. Of course, Tony thought she was building something to do with magnets. She had, but he'd seen the prototype. She'd built the real one in plain sight and hid it in a little slot under the deskwhich she'd noticed when she'd woken from a nap underneath. She stuffed everything in the shoulder bag and crept out of her room.

_Blue prints…_ She quickly found a side corridor with a cleaning cupboard. She pressed the little box device against the lock, pushed the button and waited for the click as the lock was forced open. She slid inside and locked the door behind her. Sophie looked up at the large air vent above her head and pulled out a screw driver. _Climbing time._

* * *

Steve was busy playing around with the television remote. Tony had more channels than him and he had no idea how to look for anything he may be interested in watching. He threw it down on the couch and stood awkwardly for a while. _What am I supposed to do?_ He'd come to see Sophie. He enjoyed spending time with her. _She's like me, out of her time._ She'd found out about his drawing skills and wanted to see what he could do. He'd brought by some sketch pads and found her holed up in her room, refusing to talk to anyone. _Maybe I should leave…_

Natasha burst in the door, looking furious. Steve backed away from her. "Have you seen Sophie?"

"She's in her room."

"No she isn't. She isn't on this floor; she isn't even in the building!" Natasha pulled at her hair. "God, I am so stupid. How could she slip by everyone like that?" Tony came in the door.

"Did I hear correctly that Sophie left the building?"

"She has disappeared, yes." Natasha said. Steve stood awkwardly between the two of them. "I have no idea where she has gone and quite frankly, I want her found before the Director finds out we lost her."

"Where would she go?" Tony paced up and down. "Steve, you spend the most time with Sophie, where would she go?"

"I have no idea." Steve said. "She mostly talks about places in Germany and Sweden. Places she's lived."

"We have all her passports, there's no way she could just get on a plane." Tony was starting to get agitated. He suddenly stopped and looked at Natasha. "She asked me if we would take her clubbing."

"We don't have time to scout every club in New York," Natasha said, "She could be in any one."

"But she said her friend Frank ran a club and that's the one she always goes too." Tony said, running out of the room. "I'll find out who this Frank is, you guys get the car!"

* * *

'Franklin's' turned out to be a rock club downtown, run by Franklin Winsor. Tony gave him no points for the name of his club. Steve felt that his face had grown pale as he got out of the car. The club seemed like it was teeming with people. He felt uncomfortable and out of place. Tony only had to step out of the car before the cameras started flashing. He pushed past, smiling and waving casually. The doorman let them all straight in. "I love being me." Tony said as they headed inside. There was a large bar lining the wall at one side and a dance floor filling the rest of the space around a towering platform where the DJ booth and stage were. There was an upstairs balcony that went around the whole room where more people danced. Tables, couches and chairs littered the place. All Steve could smell was sweat and the mix of perfumes everyone was wearing.

"There." Natasha pointed up at the platform. Sophie was there, handing the microphone back to the DJ and jumping off onto the dance floor. Steve led the way, pushing people gently aside. He felt nervous. He'd heard stories about fights starting in places like this. Horrible fights. They reached Sophie who was dancing with a group of girls and pulled her away.

"Hello!" She beamed at them. "Want to dance?"

"I think I'm…. outdated." Steve said, looking around. _Why is everything so short?_ _At least Sophie's covered._ He flushed a little.

"Then we drink!" She shouted and dragged him to the bar. Natasha stopped them.

"We are here to take you home."

"Thanks to you, I do not have a home." Sophie replied and went to the bar. She pulled herself up and sat on it, her face pink and happy. "Frank! Over here!"

"Sophie?" The man behind the bar looked astonished. He had long dark hair and a very strong jawline. "Where have you been? I have been calling you all week. We all have." He came forward and pulled some beers out from under the bar.

"Oh, well, I kind of made some new friends and was hanging out with them. Hey, come here!" She pulled Tony and Steve over. Natasha was already beside Sophie, looking around the place.

Frank's face split into a grin. "You brought Tony Stark to my bar?" He pulled Sophie down behind the bar with him and kissed her cheeks. "You honestly are too good to me. Drinks on the house for you and all your friends tonight." Sophie climbed back onto the bar and sat with her legs swinging.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Natasha said.

"You and Steve can drive us back." Tony said. He looked at Sophie. "We'll have one drink so as not to be rude to your friend here and then we're going home."

"I don't want to." Sophie pouted.

"Well you are, end of story."

Sophie shrugged and passed Tony a beer. "I'm drunk, I don't care." She took a swig from her bottle. "And I've had fun. Goal achieved."

Tony shook his head at her, pushing a bottle into Steve's hand. Steve drank his and tapped Sophie on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Thank you, Steve."

"So, you're on good terms with a bar-keep as well as politicians and scientists."

Sophie nodded. "Frank's a cousin of my old Swedish roommate. I helped out with money when I moved here and the bar was struggling."

"And now," Frank said, pushing another beer on Tony who accepted, but still scowled at Sophie. "I'm happy, successful and Sophie is my best customer who is always bringing me more."

Natasha eventually pulled Sophie off the bar and marched her outside. Frank seemed oblivious to what was going on and waved her a happy good bye. Tony sat in the back with Sophie while Steve drove. "You are never leaving the tower again."

"How come?" She asked, sounding like a little child.

"Because you humiliated me and broke the rules." Tony snapped at her. Sophie muttered to herself all the way home. Natasha and Tony made sure Sophie went to her room straight away. Steve stayed in his room, listening to Sophie and Tony scream at each other. When it finally died down Steve slipped across to Sophie's room. She was curled up on the bed watching a cartoon. Her makeup had run a little giving her a more tired appearance than normal.

Steve quietly lay down beside her. "You okay?"

"Fine." She mumbled.

"I've broken rules before. I'm not mad at you. Sometimes… It needs to be done."

"Those weren't rules, Steve. I'm not an agent nor am I Tony Stark's child or employee. I had every right to walk out of this building. What they did was wrong, not me."

"We're trying to protect you, Sophie. There's a faceless enemy out there and they wanted you to steal for them."

"I can look after myself." Sophie said, a little slurred. "X is equal to nine. Four times three is twelve. The speed of a cheetah-"

"I know you can." Steve said. "You're a smart person. And a good friend too, it's nice what you did for Frank."

"Yeah, well, if you guys had even checked my finances correctly you'd see I don't even keep a lot of my money. I send a lot of it too my nana."

"Your grandmother?"

"She was my foster mother, but she was a lot older than most so, she insisted I called her Nana." Sophie's voice went very quiet. "I send her money so she can look after more children and give them the great start she gave me."

"Can I ask… Why did you run away from home?"

Sophie didn't say anything for a while. "People kept offering her money to let me be taken to their schools, their universities, to be their _research_. It was tearing her apart, all that pressure. She had no idea what to do with me. So when I had enough saved and I graduated university I left. I wrote her letters. She was angry with me for a while, but, she understood. Sooner or later someone would just take me from her by force." There was a long silence. "So do you think we should kiss?"

"What?" Steve scrambled to his feet and banged against the wall. Sophie rolled around on the bed laughing.

"I was joking." Sophie said sitting up. "Thank you, Steve. You're always so nice to me."

"Anytime." He said, rubbing his neck and avoiding her eye.

"Want to watch something? Just give me a minute to get my jammies on."

* * *

He flicked the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and crushed it with his toe. The last dregs of dancers and singers were moving out the door as the club shut up. He'd spent the whole night waiting for Sophie. She turned up like clockwork every Friday and had been late. He'd worried she wouldn't show. He'd asked the regulars, the DJ, the bar staff, everyone if they knew where she was. Everyone knew 'that nerd' Sophie who partied into the early hours of the morning. She'd dropped off the face of the earth last week. He always texted and messaged and e-mailed her. She'd vanished.

But then he'd seen her at last, turning up with the famous Tony Stark. He recognised the other two, the Black Widow and Captain America. _Sophie has been making interesting friends._ It was a relief, to know she hadn't taken off back to Europe or Asia, to know that she was safe and sound. _But she must be living with SHEILD or Stark, and either way, you can't touch her now. _He balled his hands into fists as he leant against the wall. _But that Banner lives with Stark…And you need geniuses to make everything fit together. Find a way to get three instead of one and there is no way the machine breaks. Plus, you can make sure their brains won't burn out before you use darling Sophie._

It was going to be interesting.


	10. Chapter Nine: Ambush

She woke up gasping for air. Sophie felt her heart race, the sweat trickle down her skin. She bunched her fists into the sheets which were tangled around her legs. She breathed deeply. "Steve?" She felt around beside her and turned on the light before looking to the other side of the bed. Steve had gone. He'd fallen asleep during the second film of the night. He must have woken and left when he saw her asleep. She felt cold. _I could really use someone right now._

She got out of bed and opened the blinds, looking down at the city. She felt sick and twisted. _Numbers…_ They wouldn't stop. They wouldn't go away. She felt like they were chasing her. They were always one step behind her when she slept, when she woke, when she walked and talked.

_What are you?_ She felt her head spin. _It is impossible not to know…_ She stared at that screen in the lab and they haunted her for the rest of the day. It had become more intense since she'd moved into the tower. They just never left and no one else would understand. Sophie sat on the bed and reached over for a pad and pen. She began writing rapidly, every number that came to mind, every single digit and symbol and letter. She didn't stop for her tired eyes or her cramping hand or the blood that started streaming heavily out of her nose.

* * *

As it was a warm day Tony had decided to have breakfast outside looking over the city. Pepper had left him out the morning papers which he sat reading with some coffee. He put one aside and picked up another. He gave up and put them all aside. _Fury better not come by today…_He didn't know if Fury knew Sophie had run off last night and he didn't want him to know. Natasha had agreed to keep quiet on the whole thing. He suspected that Natasha was impressed with Sophie's skills and was going easy on her. _Like two peas in a pod._

He jumped as a large notepad was thrown in front of him. Sophie was standing there with a steaming mug of something hot. She looked out at the sky. "I thought maybe I'd avoid the room search." She said.

Tony narrowed his eyes at her and flicked through the pad. There were spots of something brown dried into the pages. He looked at Sophie again. Her mouth, nose and chin were raw with scrubbing. _Another one._ He grunted and kicked out a chair for her. Sophie sat down and crossed her legs over in front of her. Tony looked back over the notes and then closed the pad. "Thank you." Sophie nodded.

Eventually she spoke. "I'm sorry I snuck out last night."

Tony let out a dry laugh. "Of course you are. Did Steve tell you to say that?"

"No, actually. I genuinely am sorry. I don't want to offend or hurt anyone here."

Tony rubbed his face and ran a hand through his hair. "I know. I was… Kind of the same. Still am, always sneaking off and not telling Pepper things. I don't really blame you… I'd go insane if I was stuck somewhere all the time."

"Thank you. Glad you understand." She still hadn't looked at him. "Nine hundred and nine, nine hundred and ten, nine hundred and eleven-"

"Look. Maybe, if you promise not to sneak out and steal from us again, we can take you out places."

"Wow, that's exactly why I ran away from home. So I could find people to control every aspect of my life forever." She now looked at him, a sharp anger in her eyes.

"I think you're missing the point." Tony said, trying to avoid raising his voice. "You are a criminal; we could have thrown you into a prison and left you there. Instead, we took into account that there are people somewhere building a weapon and want your help. If they want your help then it's something big that only you can do."

"And I refused them." She said, outraged.

"I know." Tony said, quietly. "But that doesn't mean they accepted your answer. Do you understand what I am trying to say?"

Sophie rubbed her eyes and nodded, looking down at her knees. "Let me go home."

"What?"

"Let me leave the country. I'll go back to Europe, disappear again. I'll give up my life of crime if you want. Just let me go." There was something in her eye. _Desperation._

"Why don't I just give you a job and you can live here, with Bruce." Tony said, leaning back into his chair.

To his surprise, Sophie said, "If I wanted to work for you I would have shown up years ago and built you a bomb out of office supplies. You'd have hired me on the spot."

"So, no?"

"No. The types of things you'd have me working on would probably be SHIELD related or have me in danger some other way from other groups who want my skills and your projects. That's why I did the job I did. I loved it, the complete anonymous feeling. It was secure."

"Until now."

"And I can fix that and move away." Sophie replied and then sighed. "I never wanted a normal job. Sure, I could maybe save lives and build incredible things and fix world problems. But then they'd want you to fix more problems and other problems and other problems and it would-" She paused. "It would kill me, Tony. I'd have a world on my shoulders."

Tony looked at Sophie and felt like he was seeing her for the first time. _Is this what Steve sees?_ "Sophie, just between us, will you tell me why you hate SHIELD so much?"

"You didn't like them."

"I still find them annoying." He said.

Sophie giggled a little and then adopted a more serious expression. "I have… a lot of reasons. But mostly… I want a life. SHIELD agents don't have lives. They don't even exist, not really. They're off the grid. That's why I still don't know who my father is on the list of names in that programme." She rubbed at her arm. "And that's the thing. Whoever my father was they were so lonely, lonely enough to pay my mother. How lonely are other agents? I don't want to be lonely. I want… I want to have a family one day. I can't have one if I'm an agent."

"Come on, that's harsh."

"Name one SHIELD agent you know with a family." Tony didn't reply. "Clint doesn't have anyone, neither does Natasha. Natasha can't have kids, did you know that? What future does she have? If they both found partners do you think they could just leave and get married? No, they know too much. And look at people who are just associated with SHIELD. Look at poor Bruce, look at Steve. Steve's depressed out his mind; he has no idea what to do anymore. And you're lucky, Tony, you have Pepper but really with all the work you two do, do you actually have time for each other?" Now Tony really couldn't find a single word to reply with. "I want to live my life. I don't want to be alone and having flings and one night stands forever. I want… I want something real. I won't have that."

"Sophie…" He stopped. "Sophie, SHIELD isn't all bad. They have a job to do."

"A job I don't want." She laughed bitterly. "I'm not even working for them and they're controlling my life."

"Come on, Sophie-"

"Tony, I'm holed up in your tower and being baby sat around the clock. Am I going to have to ask you for permission to walk down the street and have coffee? I'm going to be twenty-three in just under two months. Will I still be here? Will I be allowed to celebrate and be with friends?" She rubbed at her eyes again. "I'm not ungrateful for your hospitality; I just hate feeling like a spider in a bath."

Tony reached over and out a hand on her shoulder. "I would hate feeling like that too. So… If you don't sneak off and run away, I promise we'll be more trusting."

The corners of her mouth lifted a little. "I could promise you that."

Tony smiled in return. "Oh, here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "Bruce wrote some equations for you to solve, he figures you might be bored and could use a daily challenge."

Sophie took the sheet and rolled her eyes. "I bet I can solve them in my sleep."

* * *

Life improved over the next two weeks. Sophie could feel a little more of a connection to the others than before. Clint had taken her and Steve to some museums, which Steve had enjoyed, reminding Sophie very much of a three-year-old discovering the world for the first time. Natasha and Pepper had taken her on three different shopping trips. Sophie had treated them to lunch. Quietly and discreetly she had bought everyone gifts to say thank you. She just wasn't sure how to give them out without feeling like an idiot. Bruce had started coming into the living area more and more and began to talk with her. Tony remained enthusiastic for the brain power and just in general was himself, although he did take her out to a very private club one Friday. It took every ounce of her restraint to stay as 'normal' as she could and to not attempt to 'shift' money from the bank accounts of all the cards she saw flashing at the bar.

It was one afternoon when Tony suggested they perhaps have lunch out at a park. They packed up as much food as they could carry and went as a group. Sophie almost squealed aloud with joy at the sight of trees and grass. It had been far too long since she'd seen any. She bought a ball on her way there and they had a quick kick around. Steve tailed her closely as she wandered off or climbed some trees. They had eventually sat down to eat. She wedged herself between Natasha and Steve. She felt much safer with them than she did the others. Natasha was so intelligent and strong. Sophie loved the way she carried herself, the confident air Natasha oozed with every step she took.

Steve on the other hand was quiet and sweet. He seemed to try and make himself look smaller than he was and stay out of the way. She didn't think there was a bad bone in his body. The time they had alone just watching things on the television or reading was special to her. She would fill out details in the documentaries they watched and Steve would show her his drawings. She looked over his shoulders now at a quick sketch he was doing of Tony and Pepper who were cuddled up together. Sometimes, Steve would put his arm around her when they were together. There was nothing romantic there and she knew Steve felt that way too. It was just quite comfortable to have Steve's arm around her while they watched a movie as friends. There was something lonely inside Steve that only vanished when he was with all of them.

She stretched and stood up. "I'm just going to get some ice cream." She walked away and knew that they were all keeping an eye on her as she took some change out of her pocket. She paid for her cone and stood licking the ice cream, looking around. _I hope we get another day like this._ And she heard something… A faint buzzing. Everyone looked around, so Sophie knew she wasn't the only one that heard it. But she could hear something underneath and she was sure that no one else could hear it.

She turned her head back to the group as she heard everyone shouting. Bruce had his hands over his ears and was writhing on the ground. _Can he hear it too? _ She heard Tony shouting for someone to shut off the sound, whatever it was. Sophie rubbed her eyes. Her mind started to feel as though it was… expanding. Maybe, shrinking? It felt like it was moving. _Like when I get drunk…_ But she hadn't been drinking at all. "Sophie!" She heard Natasha shout. "Sophie, get back to the car!" But Sophie couldn't move. She had to listen to the sound. Natasha ran for Sophie and shook her shoulders. "Do you hear me? Run?"

"If I run to the car the two men behind the trees will most likely follow me even if Bruce hulks out, they will continue their pursuit. The music is coming from the speakers in the ice cream stall I was just at. I believe the man behind there may have a gun pointed at you." Sophie said, feeling her mind reel. _I just want to lie down…_

Natasha looked up. "Okay, stay here then." She pushed Sophie to the ground as a shot was aimed at her. Sophie looked at the impact on the ground. _That's a dart… Not a bullet._ Natasha had leapt over the counter. Sophie watched as Steve and Pepper begged and shoved people to get out the park. Sophie put her hands over her ears.

"Someone make the noise stop… Please… five five five five… three two nine five…" She felt someone scoop her up.

"I'll take her to the car." She heard Clint say to Natasha as he ran with her.

"Bruce…"

"I called in some help." Clint said and looked behind him. "And we're being followed…" He put Sophie down. "Be right back."

Sophie struggled to her feet. She heard rumbling and a roar. _Oh no… Bruce._ She felt her muscles spasm and twitch. _No, no, no, no. Not here… Over ride over ride…_

* * *

Steve was helping a group of people out of the park when he spotted Clint. He and Natasha were dealing with a couple of men in dark suits. Natasha threw one on the ground and he stayed there, not moving much. Steve heard the roar and the rumble. _Where is Sophie?_ He saw her, standing still by herself. He ran straight for her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Over ride, over ride, over ride…"

"Sophie! Stop that. Run to the car now and I'll keep Bruce distracted, okay?"

"But…. The noise."

"Never mind!" He shouted. Sophie nodded and turned and ran. He watched as she vaulted over a park bench. _How did she do that?_ He didn't have time to think about it. He waved and jumped until, her had Bruce's attention. Bruce ran straight for him. "Oh… I didn't think this far." He turned and ran and heard Bruce ran off to his left. _Sophie._ Steve changed direction hoping he could intercept. Sophie ran into a tree and kicked off it, changing her direction completely. Bruce smashed into the tree and punched it down, giving Sophie time to get away. Overhead, Steve heard the sound of Tony's suit. He landed in front of Bruce as Natasha and Clint ran to join him. Steve could hear cars and knew Clint must have called in SHIELD to help.

He ran after Sophie and found her at the car, leaning against it and panting. Tony had thrown him the keys and he opened the door and gently pushed her inside then ran around to get in his side. He started the engine. "You okay?" he asked as he reversed and then headed off. Sophie nodded, rubbing at her ears.

* * *

The track that had been playing had been confiscated by Nick Fury. Tony had therefore stolen a copy. _Wow, Sophie and I really are alike._ He was going to analyse it for himself and find out why Sophie and Bruce were the only ones who could hear something more than what everyone else had. The dart Natasha and Sophie said they'd seen had vanished. What worried Tony most was that somehow, someone had known they were at that park and he couldn't figure out how they knew. It was important that he find out.

He'd left Sophie in the living are with Steve. She'd had a long shower then curled up on his couch. She hadn't moved much, just muttered and watched the television. He headed down to the lab where Bruce, now back to normal, was sitting up with some work. "Bruce, go to bed."

"No…I think I'll just stay here and feel bad for the rest of the night."

"It wasn't your fault." Tony said. He pulled a bottle and two glasses out from under a cupboard.

"Have those always been there?" Bruce asked as Tony set them out and poured.

"Yes, I just don't tell you." Tony said, sitting down. "One little one will not kill you. Drink. And stop looking over those notes."

"I can't just stop."

"Well, you're going to have to because after today you need to relax. Tomorrow you and Sophie are both having downtime at my beach house or something."

"Sophie isn't going to want to see me."

"She does, she's more concerned about the other things that were going on than you." Tony assured him. "She's read your file, she knows all about you. She reacted the same way I did."

"Further proving that she is you. You and Pepper should adopt." Bruce said. Tony laughed.

"Yeah, Pepper would probably end up killing one of us." Tony leaned forward. "Okay, downtime tomorrow and if you're so determined to work tonight let's work on Sophie's birthday. Oh, did I not tell you I'm throwing her a cool party? Well, I'm throwing her a really cool birthday party. I want to do the cake first. I like cake."

"Tony…How do you know Sophie will be here that long?"

"Because I refuse to send her home. She's too valuable to us, she needs protection, and… I'll admit she's grown on me. But keep that to yourself." Bruce was looking at Tony with a mixed expression of worry and apology. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think Sophie can stay here much longer."

"Why not? She's fine."

"She's not what we think." Bruce said. He slid over the sheets of equations he'd had Sophie do over the week. "I used a random generator to make these. She solved all of them perfectly with no mistakes."

"So?"

"So Tony, she told us she had a perfect memory and that was all. But she has barely done any working for these, she wrote down a couple of starters and then just the answer." Bruce pushed another sheet to Tony. "She wrote a short cut, doodled it in the side of the paper. I have looked at every little helping cheat and short cut students and mathematicians use. This one doesn't exist. She invented it."

Tony felt a sinking sensation. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying she doesn't just have a memory, I'm saying her brain is processing that information, using it, building on it and… evolving. Sophie might not even be aware, she might just think she's pulling this information from a memory of a text book or class years ago. Sophie's brain is working and… alive on a separate level."

"Bruce, that's insane. Your brain always processes memories, it's how it learns."

"Sophie's is different. Look at those numbers." Bruce pointed to the screen. "She fixed them. Her brain is processing those, working them out. She can't do that solely from memory, there has to be something else in there too. Something more powerful than a normal brain."

"Bruce… you can't tell anyone. We can't risk her being shut away in a box."

"Tony, I have to tell someone. She's been living with us for three weeks, watching us, learning, observing. She's been in this lab and knows everything we're doing."

"Exactly, she can be valuable!" Tony exclaimed. "I want her here; maybe convince her to take a job with us."

Bruce sighed. "Maybe we can do some more scans or blood work. Maybe we can keep her here for a few more days, but Fury will find out somehow."

A voice came from the doorway. "He already has." They looked up and Tony's stomach felt like it was made of lead. Nick Fury was standing in the doorway. "Why don't you tell me more?"


	11. Chapter Ten: Summoning

Sophie was to have full tests done. Scans, ex-rays, blood work, the lot. Nick had grudgingly agreed to her being allowed to remain with Tony but he had upped the SHIELD personal outside and vowed to return each day personally to oversee what they were doing. Tony had objected but the threat of Sophie being dragged away and shut up somewhere made him feel sick.

Sophie had half caught on to the change. She knew that Fury wanted no more time wasting, just a full report on everything about Sophie. She didn't know why the change had happened though, and Tony was reluctant to tell her. _I don't even understand myself. What do you have working in that head of yours?_ After they'd run some scans he asked her to sit down so he could take her blood. She grabbed his hand as he turned away. Her eyes were welling up. "Please don't let anything happen to me."

"I won't" He promised.

Bruce, Tony, Nick and Maria Hill had all sat down together to discuss the issue. Bruce told them all their results, mumbling a little and awkwardly shifting in his seat. "Sophie's all very normal. There's nothing unusual in her blood work. Her iron levels are a little higher than normal, but not by much and so are pheromone levels- but again, not much."

"Well, she is flirting all the time. She flirted with my security." Tony said, glaring at Fury from time to time. "But she's also quite… picky. I imagine she's got a basic drive to find a perfect mate for her future genius babies."

"Is that important?" Maria asked.

"Everything is important." Fury said, glaring back at Tony. _One of these days, Eye-Patch, one of these days…_ "What drives her is important. And you never know, any children she has might be the same as her."

"I suppose you'd like to reopen the old project with a breeding programme attached." Tony said, dryly.

"Anyway," Bruce said quickly, "Moving on. We compared the scans you dug up from her childhood, the ones we did when she first arrived to now. And certainly, there's more activity. I… I would even say it looks like some growth too in the three weeks she's been here."

"Growth?" Maria asked

"The part of the brain which is responsible for memory has grown by a tiny bit. It's hard to see, but it's there. I'd like to be at that part of my life again when I could say, 'impossible' but you know, that ended." Bruce said.

"Why would it do that?"

"I uh, have a theory. The numbers are something she sees every day, but only occasionally. She was with us in the lab all the time, with those numbers constantly being thrown in her face. She used to stare at them for ages without even blinking."

Fury clasped his hands together. "What does that tell you?"

"It tells me…" Bruce glanced sideways at Tony. "It tells me that… Sophie has a brain that's evolving and… that might be dangerous."

Tony kept his eyes trained on Fury. "But she's not dangerous so far, so leave her be."

"But she could be." Fury said. "Face it, Mr. Stark, she, like you, Captain Rodgers and Doctor Banner here are all the next stages in human evolution. Human intervention with science and technology is the inevitable next stage to our development. Only Sophie is getting ahead of the game, you three have all stopped."

"Sophie never asked for this and she's not even aware."

"You don't know that." Fury said. "She's a liar, a thief and she holds back. Those moves she pulled at the park, she told Captain Rodgers that she took a parkour class when she went to France for a vacation. Except she's never been to France. She's hiding something."

"How can you even live in Europe and not go to France. That is just absurd." Tony said.

"Don't change the topic." Fury said, pulling Bruce's scans towards him to look over. "If her mind is still growing then we don't know what it might be able to do. I no longer believe in the impossible. One day she might be able to move things, read other people's minds or control them. And the longer she stays with all of you, the more she learns and grows. She is dangerous and can't stay."

Tony leaned forward. "She will stay with me until I know you aren't going to put her in a box at the bottom of the ocean."

They all sat in silence for a while. "She can't stay at SHIELD." Maria eventually said. "We might end up compromising ourselves. If we keep her completely isolated from anything and anyone she might end up being dangerous to herself. We can't put her in in protective custody with any agent because after a few days with them she'll find a way out and know them inside out."

Fury looked at everyone. "I know one place we can put her where she'll be out of her league, safe, taken care of and not a threat to anyone here. She may even be of use there."

"Where?" Tony asked.

"Well it's a long shot, but pack your bags. We're going to New Mexico."

* * *

Steve didn't like where this plan was heading. They were going to New Mexico, the exact location of the first sighting of Thor. _I don't even understand how Sophie will be safer in another state than here. People could still track her._ _Maybe we should help her disappear back into Europe._ Sophie had completely freaked at the knowledge she would be sharing a whole trip with Nick Fury. She hadn't handled that well, ending in tears. Natasha had decided to take her out for the day after they'd packed up a bag for Sophie. _Why does it need to be such a big bag? Is she going to be away that long?_

He went into Sophie's room and stared around. _She didn't even have time to make this place personal._ He sat on her bed. Would he ever fall asleep here again, listening to her ramble on about space and rockets and cars? He would miss that. He noticed her stuffed dinosaur sitting on the desk. He smiled just a little and packed it into the bag. Sophie loved it very much. After he'd placed it in carefully, he reached into his jacket and took out a square sketchpad which he placed down the side, hidden and safe.

Natasha and Sophie returned with a couple of bags with new clothes for Sophie which she strapped to her bag to leave. Tony and Fury had argued about who would provide transport. Fury had won, but Tony had whispered to Steve that he'd make sure JARVIS got into their systems. Steve had asked Tony where this plan was heading. Tony didn't say anything; he just squeezed Steve's shoulder and walked away.

Their journey on the Helicarrier resulted in Sophie clinging to his arm the whole time. If Fury came over she moved away and found Bruce or Tony. They used a small aeroplane on the Helicarrier to get down to the ground when they were nearing their location. There was a village that seemed to be under reconstruction. Most of it looked rebuilt, but there was evidence of older buildings that had been blasted away. There were a lot of builders and equipment around and people just getting on with their lives. They set up in a building that had just been finished, offices still to be bought or rented out. Steve doubted somewhere like this would really need offices as it was so small; unless SHIELD thought to operate here for longer and these were their offices. Sophie was left in a room herself with some books with a watch over her door. Steve didn't like the idea of leaving Sophie herself when she was so terrified, but Tony really wanted him to be a member of the 'greeting' party. Whatever that was.

They got into a van with Fury and drove out to a spot in the desert. Steve couldn't see the point in them being out in the middle of somewhere this dry and dusty until he spotted the really odd circle that was cordoned off. It was large, a beautiful, intricate pattern that reminded him of the designs he'd seen in a documentary on Celtic culture he'd watched with Sophie one night. They all stood for a while before Tony said, "Well, may as well start the idiotic shouting now. Thor!" He started screaming at the sky. "Thor, get down here!" Natasha also joined in.

"I… I don't get it." Steve said to Clint.

"A scientist called Jane Foster told us in her debriefing that when Thor wanted to go home he stood here and called for someone. Now that Asgard has the Tesseract back, maybe Thor can come down here whenever he wants. They have something they used to get here, but Thor had it destroyed for Loki-related reasons. I imagine they must be rebuilding." Clint looked up at the sky. "I'm hoping this works because if not we're all going to look stupid."

"But you're not shouting." Steve pointed out.

"I'm still standing with the morons who are." Clint replied, folding his arms and staring at Natasha.

Steve looked up at the sky, squinting because of the bright sun. "How is Thor going to help?"

"I truthfully don't know." Clint said, pulling out his sun glasses. "I wasn't consulted."

They remained there for about an hour, drinking water and sheltering under a gazebo. Steve got restless. _I wish I'd stayed in New York._ And then it happened. The sky darkened, and clouds appeared from nowhere, materialising into a large circle that grew and descended to the earth. There was thunder and a flash of lightening. Steve stood back from the circle, backing away. Everyone ran for cover. There was a loud cracking noise and the clouds cleared. A layer of dust arose before them. Slowly it settled. Thor rose from where he was kneeling and looked around at them all. He was the same as ever. Tall, billowing red cloak and Mjoliner at his side. Tony walked forward first and Steve followed. Tony shook Thor's hand. "My friends," Thor said, smiling at them all. "It's been too long."

* * *

Sophie had been confined to a room alone. She had been provided with some books to read. She had already read all of them. She suspected that they knew she had read those. Of course she wasn't planning to stick around. The watch was only outside the door and she had scoured the room for a camera or a bug of which there were none. There was nothing in the room except an office chair which she checked multiple times. _These idiots will never learn…_

She reached down the front of her left leg of her loose jeans and pulled out a screwdriver. She had packed as many small tools into her clothes as she could, borrowing one of Steve's shirts so it wouldn't be too obvious what she was doing. She nearly laughed that she was pulling this scam twice. She knelt on the floor and unscrewed the vents again. This time she wouldn't know where she was going and she wouldn't have a friend's she could shower the dust off. This vent was smaller than the one in Stark Tower as well, but, Sophie wasn't going to stop. _They put a Master Thief in a room with a vent. They are just asking for me to sneak out._ _Again._ She had considered sneaking out the window, but she didn't know what were in the rooms either side of her to climb back inside and the windows didn't open from the outside.

Sophie crawled into the vent and slithered along the tunnel. She tried her hardest not to make that much noise. She wondered where she would come out._ I have to find a computer._ Sophie looked through very gap and grill she found. She saw a lot of boots and shoes. Eventually after about twenty minutes of crawling around, getting stuck and nearly having a panic attack, she found an empty room with a whole bunch of computers. Sophie crawled along until her legs were level with the vent, angled herself and kicked as hard as she could several times with some difficulty and smashed in the corners of the vent grill. She wriggled through, wincing as her hips smashed along the edges.

When Sophie got out, she realised she couldn't hide the damage she'd caused. She pressed the grill back onto the vent and pulled a few spare chairs in front of it. _Hopefully that will go unnoticed for a while…_ She wondered if she should lock the door, but guessed that this room could only be accessed by card, like a lot of the rooms she'd passed by on her way inside. Sophie quickly sat down at a computer and typed in. She'd carefully watched Maria Hill type in her username and password many times. She knew it by heart. Sophie grinned when she was patched in. _Now… Let's get cracking. _She pulled out a few memory pens and started transferring files to them. She opened some to read, mostly on upcoming projects and other people SHIELD monitored globally. She opened up the file started on her, to see if perhaps SHIELD knew who her father was. She sighed, disappointed. Either they didn't know who it was or they weren't telling. She read a detailed report on her blood work and brain. '_Threat Level: High._' _What does that mean?_ She read on. _Evolving?_

There was a sound of footsteps. _Shit!_ She quickly gathered up her pens and stuffed them into her socks and underwear and shirt lining. She exited off the computer and crawled under the desk, pulling chairs in front of her. _I am in so much trouble…_

* * *

Tony followed Fury into a small room full of computers. It was for select agents only. Thor, Maria and Bruce followed. _I wonder why Clint and Natasha are being kept in the dark_. _And Steve too…_ He pulled out a chair and sat down, crossing his arms. Thor looked a little confused but sat down also. He'd requested coffee and pancakes within ten minutes of greeting everyone. He had been given a large mug of coffee and Steve was seeing to the pancakes while they spoke privately.

"We're sorry to call you." Fury said.

"No you're not." Tony said, before he could help himself. Nick shot a very dark look at Tony before returning to Thor.

"I am sorry. I understand that it cost you a great deal to come to us last time."

"With the Tesseract rightly restored to us, it was easier. I may be able to visit you more." Thor said. "That is, if you would wish it."

"By all means." Bruce said. "It would be interesting to learn from you. We might be able to establish a means of communicating, which would be handy."

"It would be, if we can maintain communication now." Nick said. "I have a huge favour to ask." He typed into one of the computers and pulled up Sophie's profile. "We have a problem here. A threat."

Thor laughed. "That girl? She looks like a child."

"She's not dangerous like she'll kill you." Tony said. "Eye-Patch here is just afraid of her because she can memorise everything."

"She has a power?" Thor said, raising his eyebrows.

Tony shrugged. "She is probably the cleverest person in the world. I have never seen anything like her and never will again. The problem is… She's kind of been targeted and we can't have her here –apparently-" He glanced at Fury, "Because her mind is constantly growing. It's a problem for us on a security level."

"And… What can I do?" Thor looked confused.

Fury took over because he was now refusing to speak. _This is a terrible idea… why did I agree to this?_ "We want you to take Sophie to Asgard."

Thor looked at them all and chuckled. "You are joking, yes?" No one replied. "You are serious?"

"If Sophie goes to Asgard, a lot of our problems would be solved for now." Bruce said. "There is a cell on Earth looking for Sophie and they want her to so something dangerous and illegal. We're not sure what, but, we need to keep her safe. They managed to track her to us. If she's in Asgard, that can't happen. She also wouldn't be able to hack into our files and steal our information."

"You want me to take a _thief_ to Asgard?" Thor asked.

"No." Tony said. "She only steals information from computers. Fact is she'd be out of her league with you. She could learn so much, be happy-"

"How is her living with us and learning any less dangerous?" Thor demanded.

"Because there'd be no one to sell it too." Tony snapped. "Trust me; she'd be too busy trying to learn everything to bother stealing from you. I think she'd be a great ambassador between our people. She could learn everything so fast that I doubt she'd ever want to steal again. Travelling and other cultures are what she lives for. Thor, you just have to meet this girl and you'd understand. She is kind and smart and-"

"You are fond of her." Thor said. He looked at Bruce. "Do you all feel the same?" Bruce quietly nodded.

"And," Tony said, "She could probably really help you rebuild your bifrost gate-thingy. She would be a great asset to us all. She won't work for me but I refuse to let Sophie out of our lives. She makes friends really easily; she can read people like a book. She has ambassador written all over her."

Thor sat in silence for a long time. Tony ran his hands through his hair. "I knew this was a bad idea, I can't believe I even agreed to it in the first place."

"You agreed to it because you and Dr. Banner have a weakness for our thief." Fury said, sharply. "And you are right. Sophie would make a good ambassador. I wouldn't consider her a threat if she played by the rules and used her talents correctly."

"The girl spends her money on five foster kids she's never met." Tony said. "Wow, what a terrible use of her gift."

Thor held up his hand as Fury and Tony began to argue. "I do not know if my family will approve, but I will return home and see if we can make arrangements. I am uncertain about this girl… I will have to meet her first." Thor said. He then looked at Fury with a very firm, grim expression. "But I will do nothing unless I have the girl's consent. That is important."

"You will love her and she'll love you." Tony insisted. "Honestly, we wouldn't ask you this if we had something else in mind, but we need her as safe as possible. You know-" He glared at Fury again. "As safe as possible as you can be near a nut job like Loki."

Thor looked between them. "I can assure you, Loki will not be a problem."

"Will she have to interact with him?" Tony demanded.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Bruce said, standing up. "We don't even know this is going ahead yet."

Tony rubbed his face. "I shouldn't have let myself be talked into this. Okay, let's go get your pancakes and go meet Sophie."

* * *

Sophie listened to them leave. She sat under the desk, shaking. _They're going to send me away… just like that… they're going to send me away._ She covered her mouth with her hand to stop the sobs coming out. _And they're going to send me as far away as possible…_ They were going to mould her into something she didn't want to be. They would force her into being one of them. _I'm not going to Asgard. I'm not going anywhere near that murdering psychopath._

Sophie crawled out from under the desk, her legs wobbling. She wiped her eyes. _I knew it. This is the reason you left Russia and England and China. Because everybody is a user._ She would have to run away. Run away back to Europe. She wouldn't be able to go to Germany or Sweden this time, not straight away. She'd go to Norway then travel to Sweden after she'd reconnected with all her old friends. _Besides, you always wanted to go to Norway. Now is as good a time as any._

Sophie went back to the vent, a plan forming in her mind.

* * *

Fury and Maria stood watching Tony and Bruce take Thor down the stairs, rattling off everything everyone had been doing in the last year. Thor just nodded. Maria hadn't said a word during that meeting. She herself was very uncertain about what they were doing. "Sir?" She asked when they were out of ear shot, "Are we certain this is a good idea? I don't think Sophie should be anywhere near Loki and for that matter a race we know very little about."

"That's why we send Sophie. She would be a good ambassador between everyone if we can train her to stop looking into things that don't concern her. But… She'll also know everything about Asgard when she returns here. Everything."

Maria frowned. "You're sending her to spy for us?"

"Is it really spying if she doesn't know? Besides… All we have to go on is Thor's word. That's not enough. I want to know if they really could be our allies."

Maria watched Tony and Thor round a corner as Bruce went in the opposite direction. "But this is primarily about everyone's safety, yes? The girl's and ours'?"

"Of course."


	12. Chapter Eleven: Separation

Steve had run around the building four times, searching every room with every agent he could find. Sophie's bag, Tony's wallet, Bruce's wallet and three other agent's wallets had all gone missing along with a handful of tools. He was searching for Tony. He eventually returned to the kitchen area, wondering if Sophie had been there for food yet and if he could catch her. To his relief when he opened the door Thor and Tony were standing there, talking away. "-and if she falls asleep head first in her soup, don't be surprised. That happened to us once."

"Tony!"

"Steve." Tony looked at him in surprise. "Are you okay?"

Steve shook his head, looking around the kitchen frantically. "Sophie's gone."

"What! How?"

"We left her in a room with an air vent."

Tony grinned briefly. "Serves Fury right, really."

"Serves us right!" Steve shouted. "Her bag is gone and we have video footage of her stealing from coats. Yours included."

Thor spoke up. "I thought you said she only stole information?"

"Well…" Tony said. "Right now she's obviously desperate enough to steal hard cash. Have you searched the building?"

"Everywhere."

There was the click of heels as Natasha came striding in. "She's stolen a van. We get to the cars now."

Tony smirked. "I'm getting my suit. Thor will get his hammer. We'll search the skies while you guys drive after her." Tony ran out of the room. _Did Tony even bring his suit?_ Thor followed Tony out while Steve ran with Natasha to a car. Clint was already behind the wheel, so all they had to do was jump in and buckle up. "Thank you." Steve said to Clint as he took off at speed. Steve sat in the back, looking in every direction. They saw the sight of Tony shooting by ahead, followed by a figure in a rippling red clock. They followed the trail, Steve continuing to check every direction just in case. In the distance behind them as they left the village and headed into the desert he saw two more black cars which must be SHIELD coming to assist. They were almost on the same route to where Thor's circle was, just slightly off. He wondered if Sophie knew what was there or if she'd picked a random direction. _She probably doesn't know where we are in location to other places, because of how we travelled here._

Eventually they saw a van in the distance. Clint was already going as fast as he could so they would eventually catch her. Before they got too close they watched as Tony shot downwards and landed in front of the van where they couldn't see him. They did see the van swerve and violently break. Steve unbuckled his belt as they stopped. The van door flew open and Sophie ran out with a look of utter desperation and fear on her face. Steve jumped out and ran after her. Sophie was a good runner, but Steve was faster. Natasha was fast too, keeping up with him as they caught Sophie by the arm. Steve pulled her back into his chest. She kicked out, screaming. "Calm down!" Natasha shouted at her. She pushed Sophie's kicking legs out of the way. "Calm down. Why are you running?"

Sophie didn't answer, just squirmed. In the distance they could hear the sounds of engines approaching. "Sophie," Steve said gently, "Sophie, what happened?"

Sophie broke into loud wailing screams. "You're sending me away! I know, I know! I know you're getting rid of me." She kicked Steve hard in the thigh, but he didn't feel it as much as Tony or Bruce would have. He stood firmly as everyone else gathered around. Tony had his helmet up, his face sweating and red in the heat.

"That's crazy," Natasha said, softly, "No one is sending you away."

"I'm not stupid, I heard you!" She looked at Tony. Steve guessed if he could see Sophie's face she would be glaring with nothing but venom. Her voice sounded that way. "He's going to send me away to Asgard!" Steve nearly dropped Sophie. He gently lowered her to the ground, so her feet touched it, but kept his arms protectively around her. Natasha and Clint looked at Tony.

"Is that true?" Clint asked, quietly.

"Well…" Tony looked at them all. "We don't know yet if Thor will take her and we were going to ask Sophie first. If we all go back I can explain-"

"Sophie isn't going to Asgard!" Clint yelled, making Sophie jump. "She isn't going anywhere near Loki, I will not allow any of our people or friends near that monster! I know _exactly _what Loki will do with someone like Sophie, I know it from _experience._" His face was an ugly colour and he raised a hand as though to hit Tony. Natasha pulled him back a little. "How dare you not even consult us, consult _Sophie_ on this. Is there anything else you're hiding?"

Thor looked as though he wanted to say something to Clint, but then turned to Tony instead. "I will not take this girl with me. I thought everyone was in agreement over this and I won't be the reason you all turn on each other." He stepped away from Tony. Steve nodded in thanks to Thor. _Well, at least he wasn't in on it._

"Look…" Tony said, looking at them all again. "I can explain."

"No." Steve said, surprising himself. "No, you can't." The other cars pulled up. "I'm going to be having words with the Director. Sophie can ride back with us." Three men got out of the cars. Steve turned with Sophie to take her back to the van to get her things.

"Steve… Those aren't our agents." Natasha whispered. There was a moment of silence. "Duck!" Steve ducked, sheltering Sophie as some bullets flew over his head. He heard doors opening and more wheels screeching. _More of them, or SHIELD?_ Steve was forced to leave Sophie for a moment she he could help Natasha fight while Clint made his way to the car to get his bow. Thor jumped in with his hammer and Tony shut his helmet again and proceeded to burn several of their attackers. Steve saw one man grab Sophie. Steve barrelled into him and punched his shoulders and face, feeling the bones crunch and crack under his knuckles.

"You okay?" he called to Sophie who nodded, looking sick. Another bullet flew towards Sophie and Steve could only think to jump in front of her. He felt something bounce off his stomach and leave a stinging sensation. Steve rubbed his stomach and reached into the sand to find what had hit him. _That wasn't a bullet that time._ He picked up a small metal dart with some liquid inside. _These are the same people._ He looked at Sophie who was curled into a ball on the ground muttering, her face stained with dirt and tears. There were so many people and he wasn't sure he could keep her from being dragged away. He also noticed that some –not all- the attackers seemed resistant to his punches and Natasha's kicks. More cars arrived and there was a mix of these enemies and agents.

Tony burst through the crowd in his suit, carrying Sophie's bag in his hand, blasting away a man who decided to attempt to tackle him. "Thor!" Tony shouted. Thor looked over, his hammer raised in the air. "Thor, take Sophie, please! Get her out of here!" Tony hurled the bag at Thor. Thor caught the bag but didn't move. Tony started shouting. "This right here is why we need her with you! Please!" Thor nodded slowly and ran to Steve, picking up Sophie and slinging her over her shoulder as easily as Steve would with a jacket.

"I'm sorry," he heard Thor say to Sophie. Steve reached out for Sophie's hand.

"It's just for a little while." He said as she caught it. She was mumbling, but when she made eye contact with him her eyes stopped being so blank and returned to their wide fearful state. _It's like she hid inside herself._

Sophie squeezed his hand as Thor took off and wrenched her away from him. "Steve, please!" She screeched as they vanished into the crowd. He heard her scream as Thor appeared in the air. A few minutes later, they heard the rumble of thunder and the sky darkened. Steve returned to the fight, trying not cry. _I just sent her away…_

He helped Natasha and Clint fend off the 'other' agents, staying away from Tony. Someone tried to tackle him to the ground but it was a simple sweeping motion with his arm to knock the person aside. Eventually, some of the attackers began to run back to their cars and a few got away, although Steve had no doubt they'd be caught later. Those who remained surrendered. SHIELD agents began arresting and cuffing those left. Steve wiped his forehead and looked up the sky which was now blue. _Sophie, forgive me._

He heard a scream and turned to see Maria Hill. She was holding the shoulders of a suit jacket and that was all. There was nothing there, just a pile of dust and sand blowing out of the jackets and empty trousers and shoes. She dropped it. Two of the other men had vanished like that also. _Is this some kind of trick?_ Steve looked around as few of their captives bit hard on their own teeth and ended up writing on the ground, frothing at the mouth. _That old trick…_ He thought, remembering seeing this several times before with Hydra. Those who remained were quickly packed into vans. SHIELD agents started cordoning off the site. Natasha waved over at him and he followed. They got into a car with Clint, ready to drive off. He would find out what had gone on during that fight later. At the moment he wanted far away from those bodies and far away from Tony. He watched out the back window as agents moved around the bodies, all of them exhausted. He looked up at the sky again.

* * *

Tony and Bruce didn't get home until the next day. SHIELD had only three prisoners although Tony could remember there being a lot more at the scene. Oddly enough, so did everyone else but there had been so much confusion. Fury had sent Tony home. Tony had gladly retreated to find Bruce and the others. Natasha, Clint and Steve had all left without him and apparently they hadn't informed Fury they had left. Bruce had been ignored completely by them on their way in to collect their things and been given dirty looks on their way out. _That's not fair… Bruce was more against this than I was._ _I was stupid and desperate and just stupid. _

Bruce had quietly gone straight to his room. He hadn't spoken a word since Sophie had gone. Tony didn't know if Bruce was angry or not. Perhaps he was hoping they were going along with Fury and finding a way to sneak Sophie away. Perhaps he felt ashamed. Either way, he didn't talk to Tony. When Tony arrived back at the Tower he went straight up to his floor. He was going to have several drinks, cuddle with Pepper and go to bed hoping that when he woke up he could forget what he did. _I didn't want her to go… But she can't stay._ He was surprised by the group's reaction, but at the same time, wasn't. _We all love her and each other. And I ruined it._

When the doors opened he saw Pepper sitting on the couch. He felt himself smile and sigh with relief. "Am I glad to see you." His face dropped. Pepper was sitting with her arms folded, her eyes red from crying and her face stone with anger. "What's wrong?" He hurried over to her but she stood up and moved away.

"Steve, Clint and Natasha came by here to collect their things." Tony turned cold with shock. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" He asked carefully.

"That you and Bruce sent Sophie away to Asgard? An alien place where that… that monster is?"

"Pepper," He began, "I can explain, I had good reason-"

"No you didn't!" She shouted at him. "No, you didn't. You never, ever, have good reason to rip someone out of their home and toss them away like that! You sent her to live with Thor, which means you sent her to live with _Loki. _You can't just play about with people's lives like that. I am disgusted that you and Bruce could even agree to that."

Tony gestured pointlessly with his arms. "Sophie… Sophie would be a wonderful link between our people. And, look, for all we know, they have Loki in a box-"

"Exactly. We _don't_ know." Pepper said, wiping her eyes. She walked past Tony. "I'm going to go away for a while. I don't really want to stay here right now."

"No." Tony called out, turning to her, gripped with fear, "No, Pepper, I am useless without you, you know that!"

Pepper got into the elevator. "Goodbye, Tony." The doors slid shut. He banged on them and then dropped onto his couch, staring at the doors. He waited to see if she would come back. Nothing happened. The doors didn't open. He made himself a drink. Still nothing. He tried calling and texting. He made another drink, and then another and then another. Pepper didn't come back.

Tony could feel his eyes were wet with tears. _What have I done?_

* * *

Bruce was on his fourth cup of coffee and it wasn't even midday yet. He just wanted to stay awake and work. He was glad that he hadn't been out in the desert when Sophie had gone and the attack had happened. _It was for her own good and ours. She is dangerous…_ If he could he would disappear to Asgard too, except there was a population there that would also be in danger from him. He couldn't escape like that. And Sophie could so some good there; at least, that's what he hoped. It was how Fury sold the idea to him and Bruce hoped he wouldn't go back on that.

Of course, now everyone hated him and Tony. He could handle it. He'd been hated a lot before, but Tony he wasn't so sure of. It was one thing for an anonymous public to despise you; it was another for it to be a close friend. Fury had sent him photographs of the scene to look at. _At least someone still trusts me._ There appeared to be a lot of confusion over exactly what had happened. There seemed to be a shortage of numbers and Agent Hill had claimed she saw a man crumble to dust.

He heard the doors slide open. "Morning." He said, not even looking up. Tony grumbled in reply. "Pepper call you yet?"

"How did you know she left?"

"I didn't. You just told me." Bruce said, spinning his chair to look at Tony. "Well you wouldn't have talked about it. I guessed she might not be too happy with us."

"Yeah, she was… pretty upset." Tony sat in a chair and wheeled himself over. "I would rather talk about this later when I'm very drunk. Right now… let's just work." Tony's face was very white, Bruce noticed and he could smell alcohol. His eyes were very bloodshot as well. "What did Fury send us?"

"Photographs and statements. Still waiting on autopsies to be done on the bodies." Bruce said. "You were there; maybe you can tell me what is true and what's not. Did three men really just vanish?"

"I don't actually know. I never saw anything but it was very hectic. A lot of those attackers had uniforms similar to SHIELD so we had to sort out who was who. I am pretty sure there was some confusion with numbers though." They flicked through the pictures. "See, right there. There's four of them but we only took in three. And there, there are five."

"So, obviously they had an escape plan or trick up their sleeves." Bruce said. "I just…" He scrolled through more pictures. "I just don't see how. Unless they really could crumble into sand."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Tony exclaimed. "Go back, go back." He took the mouse from Bruce and went back a few pictures. "I know that guy." He said, pointing to one of the people kneeling on the ground. "Oh… Shit."

* * *

It turned out Clint had a really nice apartment and he offered it as their private headquarters. Steve would offer his but he knew it wasn't up to scratch. Clint had more computers than he did. It naturally was up on the top floor and over looked the city with roof access. Steve looked out across at Stark Tower in the distance.

They'd all gone home together without a word, turned up at Stark Tower and cleared out their things. They'd told Pepper what had happened when she bumped into them getting off at the bottom floor and then left. Steve looked at his hand and flexed his fingers. _Was I right to let her go? _It was like some unspoken agreement between them all, that they would work together to find Sophie's enemy- their enemy too and they'd do it without Tony, Bruce and SHIELD. Natasha had received a lot of phone calls from Fury and had only answered when they were back in New York. _I know why I hated Sophie going, and I know why Clint hated it, but I wonder what Natasha hates so much?_ Whatever it was, she was keeping it close to home. She'd told Fury that she would happily take any information SHIELD were willing to send, but otherwise, stay out of their way.

They hadn't been sent anything but they could still access their SHIELD accounts from Clint's home and get everything they needed. It seemed Fury was willing to take all their help but not offer any in return. They all sat around a screen together. Steve had gone out and got them all some dinner which they were eating as they read through statements and photographs.

"We shouldn't have left. We should have stayed and at least gotten something first hand." Steve said.

Clint clicked on another image. "If we'd stayed I would have started another fight with Tony. We left because we had to."

"I don't think I could sit around either." Natasha said. "What they did was unforgivable." She took the mouse from Clint. "Why do the numbers of the guys they caught keep changing? Look, there's like seven here and now there's three. What idiot ran this scene?"

"Not Maria." Clint threw in. "She was taken off because she was distressed about something she saw."

"Something we all saw." Natasha said, darkly.

"It's just a question of whether or not Fury believes it." Steve said.

Clint shrugged. "Hill's a good agent and she doesn't lie. But at the same time, not enough people saw what we saw. There was too much going on. I don't remember everything that happened."

"Sophie would." Natasha murmured. "Sophie would be able to tell us exactly what is going on." She looked through some more photographs. Steve blinked and snatched the mouse from her.

"I'm sorry!" He said, quickly as Natasha scowled at him. "I saw something…" He back tracked and then handed it back to Natasha sheepishly. "I… I don't know how to make the picture bigger." Natasha smirked and made the image fill the screen. "There, do you see that guy?"

Natasha's mouth fell open a little. Clint looked between them. "What?"

"That guy," Natasha said, pointing to one of the men on the ground, "is Sophie's friend Frank. He runs a club she always goes too."

"The club she ran away too a few weeks ago?" Clint asked and Steve nodded. "Okay, we have to get there, now."

"No." Natasha said. "First we do some research on this guy and then we go tomorrow during the day when it'll be closed. We can't really afford to make a scene as we're on and off the radar. I imagine Tony and Bruce will have picked up on this too, so we need to do this now."

Steve went into the kitchen to make everyone coffee. _This is going to be a long one._


	13. Chapter Twelve: The Watcher

The next morning it rained. It rained heavily and woke Steve up with a start as it hit the window at full pelt. The sky was almost black with clouds and he wouldn't be surprised if it broke into a storm. _Perhaps the weather knows how we all feel._ He rubbed his face with his hand and stood up, stretching. He did a brief workout before dressing in a shirt and jeans. Clint gave Natasha his room and made up a camp bed for Steve in the living room. It was fairly comfortable and Steve had managed to get a good enough night's sleep. He expected being emotionally drained had a lot to do with it. Clint had slept on the windowsill, arms folded and legs resting up against the edges. Steve was impressed with his ability to sleep at all in that position.

Clint was awake and in his little kitchen, cooking up some breakfast. He slid a mug of coffee to Steve when he walked in. "Sleep okay?" Steve nodded and accepted the plate offered to him.

"Is Natasha awake?" He asked.

Clint nodded. "She woke up two hours ago, ate and went out."

"She back?"

"She's waiting in the car for us to eat. I don't know where she was this morning." He answered. They ate and Steve did the dishes before they went downstairs. Natasha was sitting behind the wheel with her legs draped across the passenger seat reading a book. Clint climbed in and poked at her legs until she moved them. Steve climbed in the back as usual. _They don't show it, but those two are close._ They started driving. _Sophie and I were close. Maybe not as close as Clint and Natasha, but we were comfortable._

They drove down to the club but drove right past it, parked two blocks away and walked back. Natasha held hands with Steve while Clint walked about ten feet ahead with his sunglasses and a back pack on and a phone to his ear, apparently having a rapid conversation about a car deal. "Act like we're in love." Natasha whispered. "We don't know who's watching around here." Steve blushed but put on a smile and pulled her close and slipped is arm around her waist. Natasha raised an eyebrow and smirked at him.

"What?" He said defensively. "This is how I'd walk with the girl of my dreams." She laughed and put her arm around his back. "So where did you go this morning?"

"Just around, you know, looking for good areas to set up shop." She said, casually. Clint indicated that he was moving around the back. They stopped outside the club and pretended to be looking at the menus for the drinks and cocktails, then the list of bands performing there. "I feel Sophie and I would disagree on music." She said, laughing. She then tugged gently on Steve's hand and pulled him around the back of the building. Clint had climbed up the fire escape and jacked up a window. Steve and Natasha followed him up and climbed inside.

The club was completely empty. The chairs were stacked up on the tables and it smelled of bleach. So, the cleaners had been in. They went straight down to check behind the bar and then into the manager's office. Everything they found was along the lines of documents, bills, letters and checks. There was nothing incriminating there. "I wonder if he knows we're onto him." Clint said.

"Possibly." Natasha said. "He would have seen us taking pictures. It wouldn't surprise me if he cleared out, but we need to start-" She whirled around and crouched in a defensive position. Outside Steve heard the sound of a door opening and closing and then two voices, muttering. Clint had packed a smaller bow and whipped it out of the back pack. He dropped the pack and approached the door, Natasha standing up again with her gun. He realised he didn't have anything and his shield was still at his own place. _I feel naked._

Natasha and Clint burst out the door. "Hands up!" Natasha shouted. Steve heard someone shout back at her. "Tony?" She lowered her gun but didn't put it away whereas Clint kept his bow trained on the other person. Steve peeked out the door and saw Tony and Bruce, both with their hands up.

"What are you two doing here?" Steve demanded.

"I'm guessing the same thing as you." Tony said. "Only, unlike you I have a warrant and can actually be here."

"You aren't a cop." Steve retorted. "Or a detective."

"No, but SHIELD are a pretty high authority, so you know, it's all good." Tony smiled a little smugly. "Unlike you sneaking around here illegally."

"I'm a SHIELD agent." Natasha said, putting her gun away. "And I can tell you that my clearance is better than yours and I don't need paper to defend what I'm doing."

There was a long silence and then Bruce spoke up timidly. "So…Are we going to search separately or…?"

"Up to Steve." Clint said. "He's the nicest. He'll probably be fair."

Steve grew warm and looked away from Tony and Bruce. He thought a moment and then spoke, "We can search together, we each get equal copies of everything we find and then go our separate ways. I'm not working with you on this Tony."

"You guys are too late anyway." Natasha said. "We searched the office and bar; I even did the toilets and cleaning cupboards. I mean, this was where he saw Sophie but that doesn't mean he keeps his things here. He could easily have just brought anything incriminating with him on a Friday. We don't even know he was doing anything to Sophie."

Tony raised an eyebrow at her. "The girl is his favourite customer and he gives her free drinks, free drinks from him only. He could easily be slipping her anything."

"You did tests." Steve said. "Wouldn't you have seen?"

"She was with us most of the time and it could easily have left her system within a day or two." Tony said.

"Well there's still nothing here." Clint said.

"Did you try the apartment?" Bruce asked. Steve, Natasha and Clint all looked at each other.

Tony grinned. "Guess we did our research better." He pointed up at the roof. "Should have kept climbing Robin Hood, the floors above this are storage and a very large apartment all for our friend Frank." They all made their way to a stairwell Tony had found on the blue prints and headed upstairs. It was slotted tightly into a wall near the manager's office and needed a key which they found a spare of in a desk. Everyone went up single file, Natasha in front with her gun and Clint behind covering the back with his bow. Steve walked between Bruce and Tony to keep them apart.

They walked past one level of storage full of chairs, tables, lights and stage props. They reached the front door and Natasha unlocked it, creeping inside. Eventually she called, "Clear!" And everyone filed in. The apartment was very nice with a cream and brown colour scheme and some very expensive looking furniture. There were plenty of photographs of Frank with his bar staff, away on holidays, with his favourite customers and friends pinned all over a corkboard in the kitchen area. Steve found one of Frank with Sophie kissing his cheek and it made him feel sick. He ripped the picture off, balled it up in his hand and binned it. He moved into the living room with Clint, looking around for anything that would hint at criminal activity.

"Got it!" They heard Bruce shout. They followed the sound too a study with the door handle broken. Judging by Natasha's presence in the study, it was her who broke the door. Inside the walls were covered in newspaper clippings, photographs, documents and notes. There was a computer that Bruce was unplugging to take with them. Tony came in behind Steve and Clint and moved through to some shelves.

"These are all albums and binders." He said, taking one down and flicking through.

"Tony." Natasha said, indicating he should come over. "These articles… some of them are papers published by those scientists that went missing." Tony came over and took a piece of paper off of the wall. "We need to box this stuff. We can't do anything here. The Assistant Manager and any team leaders will have keys and be coming to open up in the afternoon for lunch hour.

"I could call Fury, have-"

"No. I already brought boxes and labels and left them around the back. Clint and I'll go get them. Steve can stay here and watch you." Natasha replied sharply and went to the door.

Tony's face twitched in amusement. "You know, we're going to have to take all this to my tower so I can make you suitable copies…" Natasha threw him a very dark look before leaving with Clint.

Steve stood in silence, looking at everything around him. Tony pulled out a small camera and began taking pictures of the walls. Natasha and Clint returned with cardboard and plastic boxes. They packed everything away wall by wall and marked the boxes by 'north', 'south', 'east' and 'west' accordingly. Tony packed away the shelves with Steve's help. Steve was finishing the last shelf when he noticed a wire. He followed it along the wall and found a tiny fridge tucked in a corner underneath a table. He waved someone over and Bruce appeared at his shoulder. They pulled it out and opened it. Truthfully, Steve was expecting that someone who holed himself up in a room like this would probably just have a lot of drinks and snacks stored away. Instead they found that the two shelves were packed with vials and bottles of a caramel like liquid. "That's interesting…" Bruce said as they closed the door.

* * *

Tony was feeling very pleased with himself. Because of the computer hard drive and the mysterious liquid they'd found, the Three Musketeers had no choice but to come back to the tower and work within his labs and walls. He could make them a copy of the hard drive, but it wasn't the same as working with the real one and there was no way he could make them copies of the substance and he knew that Natasha and Clint would not entrust it to anyone they knew to analyse it for them. He suspected Natasha and Clint were planning to whisk Steve away and continue this quest on their own after they had all the information but he would get them to come around.

Natasha had reconstructed the walls from Tony's pictures, putting everything exactly where it was on the walls of Tony's lab, so that if there was some kind of pattern or order to this mess they may be able to see it. Tony and Bruce had set to work on the computer and the liquid while Steve and Clint looked through the albums and binders. Tony ordered in pizza in the evening and had a steady stream of coffee, water and snacks coming into the lab. Despite this he still felt hungry and exhausted. _There is just too much work._

Clint came over to him, Steve carrying several books that they laid out. "These are all pictures of Sophie at the club." Everyone gathered around. Steve had drawn red circles around any image of Sophie. Clint pointed to another book. "Those are all of her out and about, jogging, at lunch, shopping. We found a note in the back with a list of private investigators and photographers he's hired. This is… creepy."

"He's a stalker." Tony said, bluntly.

"He takes this to a whole new level then. He has the same on all of those scientists and officers that were taken." He flipped open more of the binders to show everyone.

"Then, why didn't he take Sophie?" Steve asked. "I mean, she's smarter than everyone put together. I don't understand why he wouldn't just grab her and run." Clint shrugged and opened another book.

"The answer will be on that hard drive. This is where it gets scary." He flicked through the pages. "I identified some of the people in these pictures as a portion of the citizens that have been going missing. Look what they all have in common." Tony flicked through the pages. A lot of the people circled and labelled with their names –thanks to Clint- were dancing with Sophie in the club or drinking with her at the bar. Some of the photos were of Sophie and these people kissing in corridors of hotels. "The photographers were really good to get so close and not be detected."

"But why take people Sophie's…. been with." Steve said, awkwardly.

"Because," Tony answered, "Sophie is off the grid and hard to catch. You can't trace victims back to a ghost on the internet. Plus he's noted how many days or weeks it took to catch them, so there's a random pattern." Tony stopped and flicked through some more pages. "Oh my God… Some of these are _girls_." Everyone raised their eyebrows at him, except Steve who look more awkward. "What? I'm just saying I think it's really… interesting Sophie never mentioned this."

"They're victims." Natasha said, slapping the back of Tony's head.

"I know… But good on them, not being afraid to show who they are… with Sophie." He grinned, rubbing the spot Natasha had hit.

Bruce spoke up, "Genius, rich, graduated early, a little rebellious, enjoys a night life, makes inappropriate comments and sleeps with a stream of people." He ticked them off on his fingers. "Are you certain you and Sophie aren't related?"

"Positive. She doesn't have my cute beard." He replied, putting the book down and picking up another. "It doesn't look like she knew the scientists personally but I'm guessing Sophie read all their papers. You know she's always reading and watching things."

Bruce cleared his throat. "JARVIS got into the hard drive."

Tony threw down the book. "That was fast, so obviously he isn't as smart as Sophie at building a computer." He ran over to look at the computer and started looking through the files. "Oh, what have we here?" He clicked on a file labelled 'Friday track' and opened it. There was the familiar sound of buzzing. The buzzing he'd heard at the park. He quickly shut the sound off and turned to Bruce, his heart racing. Everyone except Steve had stepped away from Bruce who had his hands over his ears and was sweating slightly. Steve helped Bruce into a chair.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah… fine." Bruce answered taking a glass of water and downing it. "I'll be fine… Just please don't play that again."

"I'm not going too." Tony said. "But he's labelled that as something to be played on a Friday, Sophie's club night."

"How come we never heard it before when we went to the club?" Steve asked.

"Because there's music, shouting and flashing lights. Your brain will be too distracted to notice and Sophie was always drinking so she really wouldn't have noticed." Natasha answered. She picked up a vial of the liquid. "And I bet that Frank was putting little drops of whatever this is in all her beers and cocktails." There was a silence before Tony took the vial from her.

"Yeah… Yeah I think you're right."

* * *

It had taken him longer to get home than he thought. The pain he'd gone through… the agony of reconstructing himself had left him weak and broken. He'd lain in a cheap hotel room for a day drinking nothing but water. Eventually he'd managed to move out of the room and travel home. He'd arrived here by helicopter, but there was no way he could use it to get home as his pilot was gone. He had to take a normal flight. He'd been terrified while boarding, scared that someone might question his motives. Tony Stark, the muscly blonde and that woman might recognise him in all those pictures they'd taken and put out a BOLO.

The flight home was smooth enough without anyone staring at him too closely or tailing him. Unfortunately, when he got out the other side things got more complicated because as he walked by a shop selling televisions and computers his face appeared on every screen as someone the police were urging people to come forward with information on. He was a dangerous suspect in a terrorist attack, apparently. He'd pulled up his hood and put on some sunglasses even though the sky was dark and it was pouring with rain. He hurried by foot across the city to his place. He was tired, having not slept and just wanted to go to bed.

On arriving at his club he saw Tony Stark, the woman and the muscly blond leaving with boxes in their arms. He swore and ducked into another doorway. Muscles was carrying an absurd amount, all stacked on top of each other as though he were carrying a feather. _I know him… I just can't place it._There was another guy along the same build but he wasn't as tall and had a more serious expression across his face. The final person in their group was Doctor Bruce Banner, someone he recognised only because Sophie had talked non-stop about what a brilliant scientist he was that he'd done a quick google search. Of course, he lived at Stark Tower now.

_And Sophie is God knows where with that giant in the pretty cloak, the one that appeared on the news as 'Thor'_. _What a self-centred, conceited codename._ He'd climbed up the fire escape when they'd been gone half an hour and then realised his worst fear. They had taken everything. His pictures, his notes, his computer, even the vials. He let out a scream and punched the walls repeatedly. _All my work… all my work is gone… God will be angry with me…_

He stopped as he felt a prickle of fear. _God will be angry unless I fix it._ He thought to himself. He had a lot of money stored away, money he'd gotten from 'Ari' through information she provided. He had a few hideouts, not to mention the warehouse… He would go there. He now had all the time in the world to work on the machine. _It will be done faster now…and if the club runs into the ground I couldn't care less. _

He went to the bathroom and cut his hair, leaving it choppy and spiky. He'd stop shaving as well so that in a few days his face would look different underneath some stubble. He would find other ways to make sure he didn't match the pictures on the news and bulletins. He moved into the kitchen and went through a drawer, finding his sharpest knife. _This is a start,_ he thought as he pressed the knife hard into his temple and drew the knife slowly and painfully across his face.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Asgard

She had spent the last two days shut up inside herself. She had screamed the entire way through that column of light. She had thrashed so much in surprise when they came out the other side that she'd landed painfully on her front on the floor. She had looked up to see someone absurdly tall in gold armour. Thor had picked her up again and put her on what she assumed was his horse, sitting behind her and taking the reins. They had ridden on a bridge that looked like it was made of a rainbow. The knowledge that she was being supported by a rainbow made her nose bleed.

Thor had been kind, never saying a cruel word or giving her a mean look. Sophie had not been able to stop crying as she pressed her sleeve to her nose. He had taken her to a room that put the one Tony had given her to shame. It had an enormous bed in the centre and very elegant couches and a beautiful carved table. Sophie had been too upset to properly appreciate it. She didn't pull back the curtains or unpack her bag. She had just fallen onto the bed and stayed there, not moving, just crying. She had refused meals and had only got up to go to the bathroom.

_I want to go home…I want to go home…_ She sat up bolt right at a loud knocking on the door, her heart racing. She had jumped every time someone had knocked on the door, so busy wandering around inside her own mind. She was about to call out when she heard Thor's voice, "May I come in?"

Sophie scrambled off the bed. "Y-Yes." She stuttered and felt her face burn as she turned red. _I have been lying in my own sweat and blood stains for two days… I haven't changed or washed…I must reek…_If it was noticeable Thor didn't indicate. He smiled at her and two servants carried in a trunk, left it on the floor between them and exited the room. Sophie awkwardly sat on a chair and Thor followed her example. _Is he waiting for me to do everything?_

"How are you?" Sophie shrugged. "I understand you've been refusing to eat."

Sophie nodded only just noticing the pain from feeling so empty. "I just… didn't feel like it." She rubbed her stomach. "Although if you have a whole cow out there I'd eat it now."

Thor laughed. "Well, I would like you to accompany me to a dinner with my family and friends, to welcome you here."

"Welcome me?" Sophie asked, a little confused.

Thor put his hands together. "I'm sorry I haven't been to see you, but I had to discuss some things with my father. While a couple of my friends are concerned that you are a thief, my father and mother wish to have you here as our guest. I was surprised, I thought I would need to talk him around, but this idea of someone to go between our people when the earth is finally ready for us intrigued him, I think. He always knows more than he tells me. And of course, if you would like to, any help you can give us in rebuilding our defences and our gate would be appreciated."

Sophie nodded. "I'd… I'd actually be happy to help. It would be challenge and I don't –seven- get those often. Nine." She clapped a hand to her mouth. _Do Asgardians accept madness? Are they like the Norse people from centuries ago?_ "I'm sorry… I-I do that sometimes-"

"It is alright." He said, softly. "Tony Stark listed all your… habits and I've explained to my family you may seem… odd, because of them. My father already knew, but that's just like him."

Sophie smiled just a little for the first time. "Thank you..."

Thor leaned forward a little. "We will give you anything you need and teach you anything you wish to know. I will escort you around our city and eventually, you'll be able to go out alone once you know it better. All I ask is that you do not steal from us."

"I promise, I won't." Sophie said. She felt itchy all over. _God I want a bath…_

Thor stood up and pulled the trunk over to them. "These are a gift from my mother, to welcome you." He opened it and Sophie peered inside. Inside were piles of neatly folded clothes. Sophie pulled out a long flowing skirt.

"This is beautiful." Sophie said quietly, turning it in her hands.

"I also think it's a good idea. You can wear your own clothes, but perhaps it would be best if it wasn't immediately obvious you weren't from Asgard."

Sophie looked up at him. "Considering everyone I passed on the way here was tall, muscled and beautiful and I'm just heading slightly in the opposite direction from that… they'll probably figure it out." She put the skirt neatly on the chair. "Plus rumours spread fast no matter where you live."

Thor laughed again. "I'll come and escort you in two hours or so." He bowed to her and left. Sophie sat awkwardly on the floor. _Was I supposed to bow too? Does he think I'm rude and ignorant now?_ She went through the rest of the trunk, feeling a little flushed. There were dresses, skirts, shirts in many different colours. There were also more practical loose and tight fighting trousers and tunics. At the bottom she found a light summer cloak and a heavy warm winter one, two pairs of boots and two pairs of soft slippers. _She thought of everything._ Sophie chose a long flowing light blue dress and laid it neatly on the bed before going through the side door to her bathroom. _Tony didn't even give me my own bathroom. Better up your game when I get back, Stark._She tried not to think _if_ I come back.

She ran herself a very hot bath. Sophie was glad there was some kind of plumbing system going on. The tub was enormous and swallowed her. She felt tiny inside it as she scrubbed herself carefully from top to toe three times. She wanted to be sure she was clean. She finally got out of the bath and dried herself off, taking her time before putting on the new dress. She spun around a few times, admiring it in the mirror. Sophie brushed out her hair and let it curl around her shoulders.

Surprisingly, she felt immensely better. Clean and dressed, she felt a little livelier than she had before. Sophie went over to the curtains that came from the top of the ceiling to the floor. _Those must be big damn windows…_She pulled them across and gasped, clinging to the fabric. _That is gorgeous…_

Everything was gold and white and covered in wildlife. She could see the impossible rainbow bridge stretching out into empty space. There were more stars in the sky than she had ever seen. Sophie tore her eyes away from them and looked down and up at the building. _It's all gold…How is that possible?_ She wondered what the rest of Asgard would look like, what kind of houses the average person would live in. There were so many trees and flowers as well. She could see little people moving along a great wall that stretched and circled out of sight.

There was a knock at the door and she heard it open. "Are you ready, Sophie?"

Sophie turned around. "Oh God, I hope so."

* * *

Another tireless dinner affair awaited him.

Loki had lost count of the amount of niceties he'd been subjected to, the amount of times he had to sit and silently listen or eat and pretend to be happy when a question was fired his way. Odin had spent a long time trying to decide how to sentence Loki when Thor had finally brought him back to Asgard in his humiliation. He had actually been a little afraid of whatever his punishment would be.

It hadn't even seemed like a punishment at first, but after a few weeks Loki had started to go a little insane with it. He was allowed in his own quarters and the library. He was allowed to go with Thor to the dining and lounging areas that their friends used. There were two guards that patrolled his corridor at night.

He was not allowed outside.

Loki wasn't entirely sure what Thor's friends had been told. He was sure they knew he went to earth and committed many atrocious crimes. Sif certainly didn't hold back on giving him dirty looks and hateful comments when they were alone. He wasn't sure if they knew his true nature, or whether that was still a secret for the family and now, Heimdall. He didn't bring it up.

While Loki had almost laughed at his punishment, he soon realised it was worse than he thought. He had to be watched constantly. There was no privacy. He was a little boy being chaperoned everywhere by his brother or a guard or his mother. There was no moment that was his except if he stayed in his quarters and then all he did was think and let his anger stew and spill over. And while he hated being around people now he also hated being confined and alone. Loki had guessed his mother had begged Odin not to be too harsh. _You did me no favours. This is agonising torture._

The worst part was the rings. Odin had given him six silver rings, three for each arm. Loki couldn't get them off. They stayed under his clothes and didn't damage his skin or chaff. But they did stop him using his powers. He spent a lot of his days in the library trying to find out which race made them and what magic could beat his own. He needed to break them. He couldn't shape shift or make copies of himself or change other objects. Well, not at first. He'd practised and trained his mind alone in those boring, long nights and eventually found he could transform small objects. It had drained him and caused him to pass out a few times. He continued working until he could make one copy of himself.

Then he'd panicked. _The Allfather knows everything…_Odin would _know_ he could use his powers. Odin would see it. He had those rings made to keep Loki in, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have a plan should Loki escape them. He now lived in uncertainty of what Odin would do, what kind of punishment would be delivered for breaking the rules of his 'lax' one. _Father enjoys his mind games. _And he knew from all the stories that Odin could be far crueller than Loki himself was.

And now, to keep his mother happy and to keep everyone under the impression he was meek and subdued he'd have to go along to a dinner with his father. He hated these on the rare occasion he was forced along to prove he still existed. He'd rather not eat, or when he did, eat alone.

He sat alone at the table while his mother and father talked with Lady Sif. He didn't move, just sat where he was expected to sit. The Warriors Three were talking with a small group of higher ranking soldiers that had also been invited. Loki glared at all of them in turn, feeling a twist of jealously as his eyes lingered on their swords. _If I could have a weapon I'd kill you all now._ He glanced at his father and then returned to his spiteful viewing of everyone.

Thor had gone. He looked around to see if he'd returned. Loki could only go on what he overheard in the library or on his secret midnight walks when he managed to slip past his guard, but he'd heard a rumour through the shelves yesterday that a Midgardian girl was living with them. Loki had had to stifle a laugh._ She won't last a week…if it's true._

The doors opened and Thor came in with a girl on his arm who was easily the shortest person in the room by a foot. She was pale and clearly frightened. He was expecting it to be the woman Thor had fallen for during banishment, but this was not her. Thor guided her to Odin and Frigga. He heard the girl say something about thanks for some dresses. She sounded excited and frightened as Thor led her to meet his friends. _Why would you bring one of them here? They don't belong here. She looks like a child, although, all Midgardians are._

Platters and plates started being put down on the table, but Loki couldn't stomach the sight of all the food. Everyone moved to the table. Odin was at the head of the table and Loki was on his left with his mother on his left so he was trapped between the two of them. _You'd think I was a troublesome baby._ Thor sat opposite Loki with this girl next to him. The girl let go of his arm and started looking around and up and down the table. He noticed she had dark shadows under her eyes, but they weren't sunken in like his. She didn't look exhausted despite this. In fact, it alarmed him to look at her eyes. There was a sparkle in them, like something intelligent or mad was hiding there. Perhaps it was both.

Thor helped Sophie ladle food onto her plate and began going between his father, Sif, Hogun, Fandral and Volstagg in conversation. They rarely spoke to Loki. _They were my friends once._ It really was a horrible punishment, to be treated like a child and ignored by everyone. His mother leaned across just a little. "Sophie, tell me about yourself." _The girl's name is Sophie._

Sophie looked up at Frigga and turned red. "I don't know what to tell you…"

Fandral spoke up. "Thor tells us you're a genius; there must be a lot to tell."

"Don't be shy." Thor said. Sophie looked up.

"Well…" She looked at Frigga. "I won't bore you with all my qualifications and things. But, I like reading and I love to travel. I like exploring new places. I'm actually really excited to see Asgard. I saw it out my window and it's… just stunning." She sounded a little breathless. "And… That's it really. I'm not very exciting."

"We have a library that I'll be happy to show you, and Thor will show you Asgard." Frigga said. Sophie smiled and looked like she wanted to ask something but her eyes slid to Loki for a brief second and she returned to eating. There was no hatred, no recognition, but it was him she didn't want to hear her next thought. He patiently watched her and managed to eat himself. She twitched a lot and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. It was loud with all the talking but he was certain she had whispered to herself. At one point she'd held her fork about half way to her mouth but had been staring intently past it at a cup on the table. Loki watched everyone else carefully. They seemed a little uneasy with Sophie's behaviour but they also acted like it was to be expected and something they were trying to adjust to as fast as they could. _Is she mad?_

When dinner was over some people stood up and moved around to talk to each other better. Odin, who had been rather quiet, indicated he would like Sophie to come with him. Sophie grabbed hold of Thor like a little girl but he gently pushed her away and she followed Odin out of the room. Loki leaned back in his seat. He wanted to follow them, but that would be noticed. He didn't bother mingling at these things either, except to maybe talk to Thor to keep his mother happy. No one wanted to talk to Loki. He was barely tolerated.

But this girl was the first interesting thing to happen in his life in a long time. _Why would they show her to me though? Is this another game, father?_ _Or is just coincidental bad timing and planning?_

Odin and Sophie returned. She looked a little perplexed and pleased. He wasn't sure how those two emotions went together. She seemed to have a magnetic attraction to Thor and hurried over to him, staying close to his side. _That would get annoying…_

Fandral and Volstagg were already drunk. Thor had held back, probably on account of how desperately Sophie kept clinging to his arm. Loki knew they'd probably continue once Sophie was safely tucked away somewhere. It had amused him to watch Sophie's face wrinkle when she tried the wine and had only managed a glass. She let go of Thor's arm at that moment and went over to a window and stood on her toes to look out. While everyone was turned to watch her, he moved down some seats to hear better. "She's… odd." He heard Sif say. "Are you sure you want her around your home?"

"Of course." Thor answered. "Where else am I going to put her? And she'll be someone great one day, you'll see."

"I would hope so." Sif watched Sophie. "She doesn't exactly strike me as a genius. Mad, maybe."

"Oh, I'm sure she's just fine." Fandral said. "Mad girls usually know how to have fun at least. Are we taking her out soon?" He asked Thor.

"Sophie!" Thor called and she turned around. "When would you like to go out? Apparently you have some volunteers."

"Not for three days." She said, almost like she was reciting it at quick fire. "I need enough time with the tutor your father will hire for me to learn how to read your language. Then I'll be happy to explore."

"You will be able to learn to read our language in three days?" Sif asked in amazement.

"I could read and write in my own in two weeks. I'm older now, so, probably only three days." Sophie responded. _She can learn that fast?_

"You really are a genius." Fandrall said, laughing. "What other tricks do you do?"

"I don't do tricks, just memorise everything." Sophie said. "Like we passed twenty three doors on our way here, five side corridors, ten guards and three walls with inscriptions I couldn't read which is how I knew I'd need a tutor."

"I've lived here my whole life and couldn't have told you that."

Sophie twitched. "Asgard's main industries will have to be in metal working both armour and weapons, there will also need to be a sufficient leather and textile industry but without the actual industry. Farming. A population that doesn't approach that of earth's but a healthier and stronger population. Little poverty." Sophie's face was draining of colour and Thor touched her arm. "Rainbow of solid light no gravity levels nine five nine trees-"

"Sophie." Thor shook her gently. She looked at him, as though she only just noticed he was there.

"I'm sorry. There's just… there's a lot to take in." She looked pale and a little sweaty. "I'm very sorry. Can I go to bed, please?" Thor nodded and took her arm. Sophie apologised to everyone on her way out and then pressed her hand to her face and hurried out.

"Well, I like her." Fandral said after a while. "She'll add some colour to the place. I hope not all her conversations end in nonsense, though."

"That's your concern? She's a thief." Sif said. "And we can't trust her." _A thief?_

Hogun spoke for the first time. "If the Allfather trusts her, so should we."

Sif glanced past them at Loki. "I don't really trust all Odin's decisions anymore." She held her head high and walked out the room, giving Loki one last disgusted look. Loki didn't care this time. A genius, a thief and a socially inept mad girl had just walked into his life. A genius who had read Asgard in a few seconds like he'd read a note scrawled on a page. A thief from Midgard that everyone here would underestimate and never suspect of anything. For the first time in a long time, Loki felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards. _Well… Isn't that just so… exquisite._


	15. Chapter Fourteen: The Chemical

Tony had put a board up in the lab with a list of questions and Steve read them over and over again. It was something to keep them motivated. Assuming that Frank was the leader of their unknown enemy the board went as follows;

_Frank:_

_What does he want with Sophie?  
Who is he?  
How does he always know where Sophie is?  
Why did he want Ari to give him the Avengers files?  
What is he building?_

Steve had spent two days just looking at those questions. Natasha had answered the third question, "Because we're probably the only ones that can interfere with his plans and he wanted all our information, find out our fears and ticks." That had made sense so Steve had scrawled it in the side. Natasha had then showed up with her own board which she put next to the one on Frank. Hers read;

_Sophie/Ari:_

_How did Sophie hear about SHIELD and the programme that made her?  
How did Sophie find out who her mother was?  
How did she meet Frank?  
What else is she hiding?_

Tony walked in as Natasha finished writing up the last question. She was also setting up a laptop she got from SHIELD to look up everything about Sophie like Bruce's computer was running everything about Frank.

Tony looked tired and his eyes red.Steve had heard him trying to call Pepper repeatedly last night. He'd heard the chink of glass and knew Tony had started drinking. A few hours later he'd heard a horrible smashing sound but hadn't gone to investigate. In the morning he'd found that Tony had kicked over and ruined a glass table. Steve didn't ask just went to the lab. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the whole Pepper situation. He felt guilty, like it was his fault because he told Pepper and yet, Pepper had a right to know what was going on too. She'd liked Sophie and she had to know what kind of man she was in a relationship with. Tony was pretending it was nothing, just a little spilled milk and he wasn't going to cry about it, when in reality –well, in reality it was an expensive broken table.

Natasha and Clint usually didn't stay long. They went out and did leg work or ran down people connected with any victims. They had gone through all the members of staff at the bar and the regulars and turned up very little. They were just getting ready to go out. Steve sometimes went with them because he was very little use in a lab but he also didn't like Bruce and Tony being left alone. _I don't know what they might send off to Fury._ Today he opted to stay behind and maybe switch out with Natasha later. Clint never switched out.

Just as Natasha and Clint were heading for the door Bruce stood up abruptly and stared at the screen he was using. "Something wrong?" Tony asked, a little slurred. _Tony should go back to bed._

"Um… I uh, think so." Bruce looked a little panicked. "I just finished running the substance and got a match." Everyone hurried over to look. Steve had no idea what he was looking at.

"Walk us through it." Tony said.

"Well, I couldn't find it anywhere, nothing normal so I had Fury send me samples of things maybe only SHIELD would have. It uh, it's not perfect, but it appears to be a mix of two chemicals used in SHIELD's original formula for… For what made Sophie."

Steve felt his mouth fall open a little. Tony didn't say anything. He just walked over to Frank's board, picked up the pen and added:

_How did Frank get the chemical?_

"Seems like all we get is more questions with each answer."

Steve stared at the question and then asked, "Why did SHIELD still have that formula and everything that goes with it lying around?" He looked at Natasha who genuinely looked confused.

"I've never heard of the programme until she showed up and I have no idea why they'd keep it. I mean, if the chemicals are used in other things fair enough, but the actual sample… That doesn't make sense. They had the body count to prove it was dangerous."

"And I really doubt that Frank was slipping her those chemicals by coincidence." Clint added. "He might have an inside source…"

"Well," Tony said, dragging himself back to the screen. "Only one thing to do and that's test it." He picked up a vial.

"How do you mean?" Bruce asked.

"I mean test it, like, take some and see what happens."

"You can't do that!" Steve said, snatching the bottle from Tony.

"Why not? He was feeding it to Sophie for what we can assume was her entire stay in New York." Tony growled, pulling the bottle from Steve. "And Sophie seems to be fine."

"It's probably for her brain!" Natasha shouted. "You may be a genius, but you are nowhere near Sophie's ability. You might not be able to handle it. For God's sake, don't be so bloody stupid."

"Well, I'm sorry!" Tony screamed back. "But I don't see how letting this stuff spin around in machines for days will get us anywhere."

"Please…" Bruce said, quietly gripping the table. "Stop." Tony lowered his hands.

"Sorry." Tony said. "I just… I'm stressed. We're running out of time. I don't… I don't really want Sophie gone and I want Pepper back. Let me test this."

"Fine, but after we've ran some _proper _tests on it first." Natasha said. "We have to be safe and we can't afford to lose you."

"Yeah…" Tony nodded. "No." He opened the vial and drank it. Steve wrestled Tony for the bottle which smashed on the floor as Tony fell backwards. He sat up and wiped his mouth. Steve's heart thudded in his chest as he watched Tony, knowing that if something happened right now there was nothing anyone could do. He helped Tony to his feet, trying not to break his arms in anger. "Sorry guys, but I'm not waiting."

Natasha looked furious. Clint held her arm, a very tense look about him. "Do you feel any different?" He asked.

Tony shook his head from side to side and then knocked his knuckles on his temple. "Nope. I feel… fine." He rummaged in a drawer and took out some headphones. "How about I listen to that recording then? Maybe I'll hear what Sophie hears?"

"I don't think-" Natasha began but Bruce interrupted.

"Let's just do it." He sounded a little frustrated and Steve felt everyone mentally preparing to run out of the room. "May as well!" He set up the recording as Tony sat in a chair and leaned back. He plugged in the headphones to the computer and crossed his arms, waiting. "Playing now." They waited a few moments.

"Tony?" Natasha asked, cautiously placing a hand on his shoulder. Tony tilted his head from side to side. "Tony, you'll have to tell us what's happening."

"There's something there… under the sound…" He twitched. "Numbers…" His nose started gushing bright red blood that splattered and dribbled down his front. He groaned loudly and gripped his head. "Oh my God…" Natasha pulled the headphones off his head roughly, making Tony yell. Clint dragged Tony to a sink and forced his head over it as the blood flowed out. After a while Tony held some tissues to his face as the flow slowed.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, wheeling another chair over to Tony.

"Yeah. That hurt." Tony blinked at them all. "It was like a whisper under all that sound. Just a faint… hint about numbers… and I started seeing them. Like they just… raced. It was horrible. I feel sorry for Sophie, if that what she sees all the time." He looked at Bruce. "I'm guessing that's why you can't stand that noise. Your other guy is probably hearing it but won't know what it is."

"Tony… Maybe you should go to a hospital." Bruce said.

"I'm fine."

"Well I insist on a scan."

Natasha poured out some water and gave it to Tony. "So… Frank plays this track that no one else can hear… Gets Sophie drunk so she doesn't know what's going on and drugged so she can see these numbers. But she's always seen them, so why force her too?"

"Perhaps he wants her to figure out what they are faster. It might have something to do with whatever he's building." Clint answered. "And we only helped by showing her them every day. When she was at home she probably turned that monitor off so she didn't see them all the time. We won't be able to figure out what they're for without her."

"Well right now we don't want her to figure them out."Tony said. "So maybe being in Asgard will give us time." He rubbed his head. "We need another look at those numbers."

"No way." Bruce said. "I'm not having anyone die or get brain damage in this lab."

"I could do it." Steve said. _You are so stupid._ "I mean… everything about me is stronger and better. Maybe I could handle it long enough to write some down."

"If Steve does it, I'll do it too." Natasha said.

" 'Tasha, no." Clint took hold of her arm. "We're not risking two of you for some numbers."

"Clint, you know I'll be fine." She gently pried his hand from her arm.

Natasha and Steve both sat down at a desk each with some paper and a pen. Tony found another set of headphones. "I don't think we should be doing this. It's just not the correct practice." Bruce said.

"I never do correct practice." Tony said. "I don't have time for that." He added a few drops of the chemical to some water and let Natasha and Steve drink it down. Steve was waiting for there to be an unpleasant taste, but it was just plain old water. They put on their headphones and Tony pressed play. Steve heard the buzzing noise. It didn't sound any different… but wait, no… there was something there. He heard it like a whisper. Just someone reciting some numbers. Zero to nine. And it was like his mind was opening up. He couldn't see the lab anymore, all he could see was a blur of numbers and then the lab and then the numbers. He picked up the pen and tried to write the numbers as he saw them. He felt like the world was just rushing inside his head. Some symbols and letters turned up, but it was mostly numbers. _If this is what Sophie sees… no wonder she's so mad._

He eventually had to stop and pulled the headphones off his ears, panting. Natasha seemed to have lasted a few seconds short of him. She looked sweaty and shaken and he knew that he must look the same. He slid his piece of paper to Bruce.

Bruce looked over both of their work. "Yeah… this looks like Sophie's first set of numbers. The ones she was running before we met her."

"Well I'm not going through that again just to play catch up and beat Sophie to the end." Natasha said.

"I don't think we want to beat Sophie to the end." Steve said. "I mean, Frank wants her to crack this so I don't think we should be helping that along."

"Yeah…" Tony was looking out the window, tossing a pen from hand to hand. "Yeah, we shouldn't help that along. But I'm still curious as to what all that is."

Natasha stood up. "Well put your curiosity in a box. This stays in this lab as it is."

Tony looked at Steve and Natasha. "Do you think if Thor drops in to give us an update we should tell him to warn Sophie about all this?" Natasha shook her head.

"Let her have some peace right now, she's been through enough. We'll only warn her when she comes home." Natasha looked between Tony and Steve. "I feel bad for her now… if that's what it feels like in her head every day." Steve could only nod. _I just really want to see her._ Natasha's phone rang and she checked the message. She stood up. "I'll be back."

Steve drank some more water and relaxed in his seat. Natasha returned in half an hour. They could see her outside the lab doors with some SHIELD agents piling up boxes. Natasha waited for all the agents to leave before coming in. "I had Sophie and Frank's personal affects brought here to help us answer the questions on our boards. Not everything will be answered with lab tests. We have to actually know our people." Steve went out and picked up some boxes.

He and Tony worked through the same boxes together. There were a lot of books in Sophie's boxes. She had a mix of classic and modern literature and a good deal of it was not in English. Natasha took those to skim through for any notes or significant titles. Sophie had a lot of blank note books filled up with her own writing. Some of that was also not in English, so Natasha took those as well. Some of the notebooks dated back to her teens. _Sophie would never let any shred of information go._

Frank's boxes had a lot of music from vinyl to CD form and photographs as well. They found a few photos of him in a Marine uniform. Tony took those and went off himself to check Frank's records again. Steve took another box of Sophie's, this one mostly with clothes and gig tickets she'd kept for safekeeping. At the bottom he found two heavy scrapbooks. He flicked them open and found a lot of glued down photographs of Sophie and three other people. There was a very beautiful Asian girl with long dark hair and little ears that stuck out through all the locks. She had big brown eyes and in the later photographs a little jewelled stud in her nose. There was a man who was a little taller than Sophie, with dark red hair, glasses and freckles. He was very handsome and seemed to always have a camera around his neck or a notebook in his hands. The final man towered above the rest and was very thin with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a lot of dark clothing and always had on heavy boots.

They were posing outside landmarks, inside buildings, bars and nightclubs. Some were just funny pictures of them on beaches or unpacking. At the top of some pages there was a date mark; '_April 2008, Glasgow',_ '_April, 2009, Berlin', 'April, 2010, Prague', 'April, 2011, Beijing' _and so on. Always April. "Hey," Steve called out. "Look at this." Everyone sat down around him as he laid out the pages. "Looks like Sophie had a little family after all."

"Wow, she's really travelled the world." Natasha turned some pages.

"And yet, I see no French destinations." Tony said. "Really, how can you travel, live in Europe and have never been to _France_? She's very backwards."

"She looks happy." Steve said and smiled. "It's nice she's happy."

"Do you think these people will have been trying to contact her?" Clint asked, sounding concerned. "They look pretty tight. Maybe we should contact them."

"No." Natasha said, immediately. "No, Sophie wouldn't want them dragged into this."

"They're on the other side of the world so they should be safe enough." Tony pointed out. "And we're going to have contact the blonde guy, he's probably Frank's Swedish cousin."

"How can you _know_ that?" Steve asked.

"Well, I'm guessing. If that guy isn't _at least_ Scandinavian then I'm not Iron Man." Tony took one of the books. "I'll run these."

Steve flicked through some more pages. _I should travel more. I can't stay holed up in this city. When have I ever travelled for fun? It's always been because I _had_ too._ He looked at some of destinations. _Maybe Sophie could take me to one of these places and give me travel looks nice.___

He was busy day dreaming about some of the buildings in the pictures, about what it would be like to sit there in person and draw them when he heard Bruce clear his throat, nervously. "Um… Steve?"

Steve stood up. "Yeah?"

"Did Sophie ever tell you why she left Japan? You talked to her the most."

"Uh, yeah. That was the week Loki attacked in Germany. She went back because a friend of hers had been there and was pretty shook up about it." He came over to Natasha's laptop she'd set up to run all of Sophie's identities and pictures, which Bruce was hiding behind and Natasha followed him. "Why?"

"I think she lied to you…" Bruce pointed to the screen. "She's wanted in Japan for assault. She broke a man's fingers, toes, and nose and severely bruised his ribs. Looks like she fled the night it happened, there's no trace of her in the country since then."

"What?" Steve leaned closer to the screen, reading the report. "Sophie would never…"

Natasha leaned over and typed. The search and the report vanished. "This stays in the lab. Director Fury does not need to know about that. We don't need to give him more reasons to lock Sophie up." Tony and Clint were watching her with interest. "What? I just don't think we should jump to conclusions or let the Director either." Natasha snapped with venom. "I know Sophie and she isn't the type to just attack someone without good reason."

"Agreed." Tony and Bruce said together.

Steve could only nod. _Was Bruce right? Is Sophie really dangerous?_ He tried to picture Sophie punching someone in the face or kicking them in the knees and stomach. He tried to imagine her breaking someone's bones and couldn't. It didn't fit with who Sophie was. _Do I know you?_


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Asgard Part Two

The girl had learned to read in exactly three days as promised. Loki had gone to the library and found the main space in the centre where he normally sat to read was taken over by Sophie and her tutor, who was looking incredibly uncomfortable. He'd watched them through the shelves a few times. Sophie could recite entire chunks of books by heart with no effort. He recognised some of what she said from his own reading. He'd had to stifle his laughter a few times when Sophie had decided she was going for a nap and left her tutor just sitting there for two or three hours, looking bewildered and miserable. Once she'd woken up and ran flat into a wall, which had caused his sides to ache as he tried not to laugh too loudly. On the fourth day, Sophie turned up alone and ran like an excited puppy through the shelves, pulling down books and bringing them all back the centre. She sat cross legged in the chairs or lay across the couches. She muttered to herself constantly which Loki found distracting at first, but on day number four he was used to.

This morning he went into the library purely because reading was all he had and Sophie-Watching was probably going to be his new hobby for a while. He was always quiet when he moved through the shelves and enjoyed the startled expressions of unaware readers who didn't see him coming. He plucked a book down from a higher shelf. _One day I'll run out of books to read. I've read so many of them already._ He flipped the cover in his hand and skimmed the first page. _Looks fine._ He went to find one of the chairs he normally sat in, stopped and peered around the shelves. Sophie wasn't there yet, but her pile of books and parchment and quills were still piled high on a table she'd commandeered. He could probably sit there for now and move away when she came in. _What am I thinking? This is my home and she's the intruder here. I shouldn't have to do anything._A little furious with himself he strode over to the table and stopped. On one of the long couches on the other side of the table he saw a foot draped over the edge. He frowned and peered around the pile of books.

Sophie was lying there fast asleep; her arms folded over her chest, one leg perched on the arm and the other hooked over the back. He was amazed she could sleep comfortably like that. Today was the first time he'd seen her in jeans and layers of t-shirts and not the clothes his mother had given her. For once, Loki didn't feel out of place; Sophie was.

He was just wondering how long she'd been here when she stirred and he backed away behind the nearest shelf. Her eyes opened and her mouth curled into a smile. "Jump." She whispered. Sophie sat up, stretched and tousled her hair and stood. She put on her reading glasses, pulled over some books and parchment and began working. He wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing, but he'd heard a mutter here and there that she was assisting with the bifrost. "Missing, missing, ducks, missing… nine two nine…missing."

Loki looked down at the book in his hands and flicked to the first page again. He was sure he'd read 'bifrost'… Yes, there it was. _Perfect._It didn't matter how badly a conversation with Sophie might go, but he needed to start somewhere. He had to find out what made her so clever and how he could use it. _She might be my key out of here._ He had to establish a relationship with her right now, even if it was a hateful one, otherwise people might start filling her head with ideas about him before he could. It was most likely she would hate him. _Does she know who I am, though? She didn't seem to recognise me before…_

He walked out and approached the table with the book in his hands. Sophie looked up at him and slowly took off her glasses. She didn't look surprised or angry. She just stood straight and watched him with her faraway eyes. He stopped and handed her the book. She looked at it for a moment before taking it out of his hand. "I heard you're working on our bifrost problem. I thought that might help."

"Thank you." She flicked through the pages and then looked back up at him.

"I didn't get a chance to introduce myself the other night. I'm Loki."

"I know who you are." She said. "You're the man who came to my home and killed people."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "That's rude. I just gave you a book."

"It's rude to kill people regardless of whether you give me books." She didn't sound or look angry. She was just stating the words. Loki couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or shout at her.

"You're not exactly innocent either. I hear you're a thief."

Sophie blinked and looked at him with an amused expression. "Did anyone tell you what I stole?"

"No. But a thief is still a thief."

"I stole information." Sophie replied and then gestured at everything on the table. "Your father willingly handed me all the knowledge in Asgard. I'm not a thief here, just a happy scholar."

"By your logic, then I'm not a murderer here. The only person I killed in Asgard was a Frost Giant trying to kill my father." It wasn't a lie. He watched as her face turned to stone.

"Life is still life and you took it. I never did that." She folded her arms.

"Well," He started walking away, "Seeing as you hate me like everyone else, I'll just leave you to your thieving of Asgardian secrets. Sadly, there are no planets to be just handed to me to pass the time."

"Why would you say that?"

He stopped. "Why would I-"

"Why would you say I hate you?" Sophie asked –almost demanded.

Loki was almost at a loss for words. _Just who is this girl?_ "Have you even been listening to this conversation?"

"Probably better than you have." She retorted.

"You don't…" He paused for a few seconds. "You don't… hate me?"

Sophie stared very intently into his eyes. She moved around the table and stood far too near for his comfort as she persisted with her staring. He had a great advantage with his height and strength and could easily knock her aside. Her face changed to one of surprise. "No…I really don't." He watched as her arm twitched and she flew at the table to start writing furiously.

Loki turned on his heel and left the room, rubbing at the rings under his sleeves. He wasn't sure how he felt about what had just happened. _Why doesn't she hate me?_ It made sense to him that having hurt her home, Sophie would despise his very existence. _I don't understand…_

* * *

Sophie had left the library to search out some lunch as she'd skipped breakfast in exchange for a nap. She'd eaten with Volstagg in a room Thor had shown her where he and his friends liked to spend their evenings and she was welcome to use. She had decided immediately she liked Volstagg who joked with her and told her a lot of stories about 'The Warriors Three' who she gathered must include the other two men she'd met. She hadn't seen them since her welcome feast. Thor had come in and told her he was taking her out today. She'd hurried back to her room heavy with everything she'd eaten and changed into something more suitable. _I'm going to have to work out if I'm going to eat like this all the time._

Thor came to collect her and take her downstairs. "I hope you've been enjoying your stay so far." He said.

Sophie nodded while struggling with the clasp of her cloak. _Why don't these people know what zips are?_ "Yeah, everyone's been so nice." She smiled in triumph as she successfully fastened the cloak. "Where are we going today?"

"I thought we'd just see where the road takes us."

"That's what I do all the time." Sophie could hardly restrain herself in excitement. _I am about to see an alien world. I am officially the coolest human ever._ When she got outside she breathed in the fresh air and nearly ran down the steps to just get into the sunlight. As they approached the bottom she saw Sif and Fandral standing by some horses. She stopped, uneasily looking at Thor. "I don't know how to ride a horse…"

"I know, but we'll teach you. Today you can ride with me." He led her towards one of the horses and lifted her onto it. Sophie nervously stroked its mane. _You grew up in a country village and still get nervous around horses._ She reached out and gently rubbed the horse's ears. _Actually, this isn't so bad._ "Hold on." Thor said as he swung himself up behind her. She gripped tightly to the saddle as Thor took the reins and kept his arms around her. Sophie tried not to wriggle around to much as they set off. It was an uncomfortable feeling but one she hoped she'd get used to in time.

They headed out the main gates and down a road, although they didn't have to go far before they started being among buildings again. Most of them were made of stone and wood and looked like they'd withstand a long winter. Just looking at the buildings and the people moving in and out of them and walking down the street made her realise just how much she had to learn. _It's not just the science; I have to understand this culture too._ They stopped at a market and Thor helped her down. She wanted to run and look at everything at once, it was like an itch crawling up her leg but she made a point of staying between Thor and Fandral. Sophie was very aware just how much taller and stronger everyone in Asgard looked compared to her. _You must look like a toddler._

They moved from stall to stall. Sophie examined everything she could touch and tasted anything that was offered to her. She listened to the conversations she overheard, trying to find out what went on in an average day-to-day life here. She noticed that Sif was keeping her distance. At first Sophie thought she was perhaps just to tail them and watch for anything suspicious, but then she noticed how Sif had her eyes trained on her only. She rarely stopped watching Sophie's every move. _Oh, I see…_ She moved her hand suddenly over a bowl at a stall and watched Sif move forward quickly and reach at her belt for something. Sophie smirked to herself and pulled her hand away. _Yeah, she's on thief watch._

Thor turned to her at that moment. "I think we should go back now. The sun's starting to go down. Have you had enough for today?" Sophie nodded.

"There's… a lot to take in here." She watched some children run by, screaming and shouting. "But some things aren't that different." She stifled a yawn and followed Thor back to their horses. This time she went to Fandral's horse.

"Am I not good enough?" Thor asked.

"He's cuter." She smiled and climbed onto the horse herself. Fandral swung up behind her looking incredibly pleased with himself. Sophie however, looked at Sif. _Ah, so you don't like me being with your friends either._ Sif didn't share Thor's laughter. She just gave a cold tug on her reins and led the way. Fandral rode alongside Thor while Sif kept ahead. When they got back she leapt down from her horse and Thor took the reins of Sif's as well as his own.

"Would you escort Sophie back upstairs?" Thor asked. Sif's mouth tightened but she nodded as Thor and Fandral led their horses away, talking and laughing. _Probably holding back because I was there._ She hurried after Sif and walked beside her.

"You don't like me, do you?" Sophie asked.

Sif's eyes looked into Sophie's, trying to find something but Sophie gave nothing away except her usual twitches. "It's not that I don't like you… I just don't trust you. Thor told me you're a thief."

"And you already have one criminal running loose so you don't want another." Sophie looked up at the windows as they continued up the stairs. "I can assure you I'm not here to steal."

"Have you met our resident inmate yet?" Sif asked. Sophie nodded. "Then a word of advice. Don't trust Loki and don't talk to him."

Sophie stopped walking and folded her arms. "I can't trust you if you don't trust me. How am I supposed to take your advice? I already don't trust Loki, because he _killed_ people on my world and believe it or not, that makes an impact." Sif flushed a little_. And of course, what Odin told me._ She thought back to Loki, and then to Odin. _I don't understand what he expects me to do._ She shook those thoughts away and returned to the present."I don't really want to mistrust everyone here. Least of all you."

"Me?" Sif finally let her guard down and Sophie could see her surprise.

"Volstagg and Thor told me a lot of stories. You… remind me of my friend Natasha. She's strong like you. I could really use that right now. This hasn't exactly been easy for me, you know."

Sif looked her up and down, but Sophie stood her ground. "I still won't trust you until I know you."

Sophie smiled and shrugged. "That's good enough. Natasha was the same." She started up the stairs again. "Could you teach me how to fight?"

"Fight?"

"Just basic defence." Sophie said. "In a few years, I'm supposed to be a kind of… go between for you and Earth. I need to be more in touch with your culture and being a warrior is a huge part."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Just a little bit. No more than what you'd teach a child." _Just go with it._

"I… I will ask Thor." Sif said finally.

Sophie grinned. "It would be nice to actually fit in a little." She slipped in through the door. "Could you also maybe ask Thor to ask Fandral not be so forward?"

"That's your own fault for complimenting him."

"I meant it, until he started whispering…things in my ear." Sophie felt a little relief as Sif's mouth turned upwards into a small smile.

* * *

It was dark now and more candles had been lit around Sophie's table in the library. Loki had seen her go out and had slipped back into the library. He'd spent a while looking through the piles of notes she'd made. _It's not just the bifrost, she's working on defences as well._ She'd drawn some basic diagrams and a lot of numbers and symbols he recognised from Selvig's scribbling's but he couldn't understand what any of it was supposed to mean. _She's got a brain like one of Stark's machines._ That disturbed him a little. _We don't need that on Asgard._

Sophie had returned and Loki had seen her talking to Sif. Sif, who had been angry at Sophie's presence was actually smiling and joking with her. That baffled him completely. Sophie had come back after she'd eaten and sat hunched over her notes again. Loki had moved away once he heard her coming. He needed Sophie to get out of here. Why else would she show up now, when he was so desperate? But she wasn't like Thor or Sif. He couldn't quite get the same piece by piece breakdown of who she was as he could with others.

Loki had decided to go around and find a few books he'd read that might be of help to her. While she was a big disturbance in his life, she was also rebuilding something vital to Asgard. _And vital to leaving it. _So, he'd carefully prod information her way and see if he could speed things along. He had a small stack in his hands which he quietly placed on the table at her elbow. Sophie looked up at him in surprise. "I thought they might help." He moved around the table to get out of her way. It unnerved Loki, the way she looked at him.

"Thanks." She said. "The book earlier, that helped too."

"Good."

"Even though you'd picked it up at random and used it as an excuse to talk to me." _She's good. Damn._

He turned back to her and found Sophie smiling a little smugly. "That had to be a lucky guess."

"No. Just because I'm the mad girl who talks to herself doesn't mean I'm not listening and watching. I hear you moving around here a lot." Sophie paused. "You're welcome to sit here, you know. Or are you trying to avoid me?"

Loki slowly moved to a chair and sat down. Sophie rubbed at her eyes under her glasses and then looked at him again. "So do you by any chance know where they've hidden that magic cube or do I have to go find it myself to get a peek?"

Loki felt himself smile again. "Only the Allfather knows that."

"Thought so." Sophie turned some pages idly. "I need to go to bed soon. Library's all yours."

"Can I ask you something?" He couldn't stop himself. Sophie didn't say anything so he went on. "Why don't you hate me?"

Sophie took off her glasses and gave him quite a serious, but not threatening, look, "Let's get something clear. Just because I don't hate you doesn't mean I trust you or like you. I will never forgive you for what you did, but I'm indifferent to you." She shrugged. "As for why I don't hate you… I'll maybe tell you one day if I can trust you."

"I can be content with knowing one person in Asgard doesn't hate me."

"Thor doesn't hate you." Sophie said. Loki stiffened a little. Sophie must have seen because she went on, "Sorry." She looked around her work. "My turn. Why do you want the bifrost gate rebuilt? I figured that's the reason you brought me these." She tapped the books beside her.

"As hard as it might be for you to believe, I didn't break it. It's vital to Asgard, I know that. It has to be restored." _Because I won't be left here to rot among all these shelves._

Sophie looked thoughtful for a moment. "Anything you find that might help… I would appreciate it." _But you still don't trust me. Yet._

"My turn, it's been on my mind all day. You stole information, why? I'm curious as to what that gets you. It's very… original."

"I sold it to the highest bidder."

"Not very original." He said. "I'm a little disappointed, I admit. I thought perhaps you weren't driven by money like everyone else on Earth."

Sophie gave him a little smile and stood up, moving around the table. "It's not about the money. It's about not being bored." She headed for the door. "So don't think you can ever buy me off. I'm onto you. Game on." She flashed him another grin and left.

Loki reclined in his chair and looked up at the ceiling, thinking. He waved his hand and all the candles blew out in an icy breeze. _Perhaps I've lost touch and am making my intentions too obvious. Game on indeed…_


	17. Chapter Sixteen: A Trade of Secrets

All the stars were laid out before her as she ran towards the end. Construction had begun, and the golden arch got bigger as her legs carried her towards it. Through the other side though, there was still nothing but empty space and she was running for it, the end of the rainbow. She could hear a voice behind her, calling –perhaps even screaming but she didn't turn around. She ran through the arch got to the edge and jumped right off-

Sophie opened her eyes. The sun was sneaking through a gap in her curtains. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. That dream had been happening ever since she had arrived here. She thought it was because she wanted to go home, but the truth was that Asgard was the first fresh thing she'd had in years, the first true challenge and she couldn't leave until she'd completed it. She stretched and rolled out of the bed. _Must have got at least three hours. Go me!_ Today she was getting her first defence lesson. She had thought there might have to be more shoving and begging for that but apparently it was fine. She'd been out riding twice and was starting to pick that up fast although horses still made her a little nervous.

She paced around a little and went over to where her bag and chest were. She still hadn't found time to unpack between all the readings and pestering everyone with questions. She had started building a profile on Loki. It wasn't something she was planning to hand over to SHEILD or Tony and Steve when she got home, it was for her. When Thor had told her coming across Loki was going to be certain, she'd wanted to be prepared. He was going to try and use her, so she would keep ahead of him at all times. It took one look in his eyes to know that his permanent house arrest was driving him insane and desperate. Sophie couldn't help but feel something else had happened. Something else that had hurt Loki. She kept those pieces to herself and in code in case someone else found them. Just as her fingers reached into the bottom of her bag to find some spare socks her fingers brushed against something. She frowned and pulled out a sketch pad. _Steve's? He tucked that away very well._ She flicked it open and smiled. _It's all of us…_

She sunk down onto the floor, flicking through the pictures. _Clint and Natasha… Tony…Bruce…_ Her eyes welled up. She closed the book on a sketch of them all out at the park and placed it aside. She began to cry.

It suddenly hit her hard where she was. She'd been so afraid and then excited at the thought of an alien world, she'd never stopped to even think. Her mind was so occupied with everything else. _My Nana and her kids… my friends all over the world…_ They were all so far away. _What if they think I'm missing or dead?_ She started to pull at her hair and pyjamas, the bed behind her and the floor. She just wanted something to hold onto. _Will I be home for April? Am I going to even see my home again? What about finding that person…_ Sophie curled up into a howling ball on the floor.

* * *

After a hot bath and a small, quiet breakfast with Thor's mother, Sophie had gone out to the end of the bifrost to see the construction and lay down plans. The whole magic side of it was the thing that kept throwing her but it was not impossible to understand. It was like a higher form of physics, chemistry and biology all wrapped into one thing. The key was picking it apart. She'd heard that Odin would be coming out and had hastily asked Thor if they could go back. Odin made her feel uncomfortable. He was like Nick Fury. He saw through everything. _And of course, if Earth legends have any truth in them, knows everything._ That scared her, not knowing what he might know.

Now she was standing across from Sif in a training room. It was well lit and spacious with benches and tables lining the walls. Some of the benches had selections of smaller weapons like knives and slings, while the larger ones were in an adjoining room. There were a few targets at the end against a wall at the end and a table at the top that Sophie assumed was used to put personal items on for safe keeping.

Everyone else had paired off. Sif had clearly thought hard about what best to teach Sophie that wouldn't be a threat to them. Anything sharp or metal was out. Sophie was standing with a wooden staff about four feet in length and Sif was holding another. She was showing Sophie how to block and parry, running it through like a routine. _This was such a bad idea. But I have to go a little local… it's all for the greater good._ She avoided looking around the room at anything anyone else was doing. She had to resist the temptation to watch Hogun and Fandral practising just over Sif's shoulder and not to glance to her side where Thor and Volstagg were. She kept her eyes trained on Sif and the staffs. Her muscles kept twitching horribly, which made her look so ungraceful and erratic. Sif was surprisingly patient. _She must have expected me to be jumpy._ _If only she knew…_

Sophie blocked an attack from Sif and then another coming in towards her stomach. Their staffs clashed as Sophie moved to block a hit coming into her waist and then stumbled under the strength Sif put into her move. _And I bet this is her going easy._ She could feel her muscles from her ankles to her wrists starting to ache under the strain of being restrained. Sweat had run into her eyes and was starting to sting. Sif lowered her staff. "I think that's enough for today."

"Yeah." Sophie said, handing over her own staff and going to sit on a bench to catch her breath. She kept her eyes on the floor or looked up at the windows. _Do not look at anyone._ She felt some weight on the bench beside her and turned to see Thor. He handed her a cup full of water which she drank down gratefully. "Thank you, I needed that." She took a deep breath and wiped her forehead on her sleeve.

"Are you certain you want to try this again?" Thor asked slowly.

Sophie nodded. "But maybe in a couple of days. We don't really train to fight where I'm from. You just learn to read and write and count." She paused. "I assume that's how it works for other people."

"You have a very talented mind. I was very impressed with the improvement you made to the gate. I don't think any of us could have done it."

"You didn't understand what I changed, did you?"

"Not one bit." Thor admitted. "But I at least know it'll work and be more stable than before. Do I get credit for that?"

Sophie sipped more water. "Sure. Why not?" She shared a grin with him. "So, what do you do now? Go for a bath I assume."

"Not together, but generally, yes." Sophie giggled. "We're a little like you, how you told me you lived. We do what we feel like doing."

"What do you feel like doing?"

"Eating and drinking." Thor said bluntly but with a smile. "Please, don't spend tonight under all those books. Come, be with us."

"I don't know… I really don't fit-"

"I insist." Thor cut in. "I will drag you there if I have to."

"You mean pick me up in one hand…" Sophie muttered to his amusement. "Okay, fine. But can I go there for a little bit first?"

Thor nodded. Everyone else had left while they were talking. "I wanted to ask you some things."

"Hair advice?"

Thor blinked at her in confused but went on. "No… I spoke to Loki. He was unusually in a talking mood. He said you and he spent a lot of time together. He doesn't… He doesn't trouble you, does he?"

Sophie looked Thor's face closely. _Hurt and concerned all at once. You poor man._ "No. He isn't a bother. He actually helps."

"He helps?" Thor looked a little surprised.

"He brings me books he's read that might help me. I'll admit he needles me with questions about my personal life, but I'm too smart to answer them with anything he could use. He's crafty though. Good at wording things innocently."

"If you start to feel threatened… tell me." _I won't. Because it'd kill you to have to punish him more._"Another thing… Loki said… I think you caught him off guard a little- which doesn't ever happen. You said you didn't… hate him? Is that correct?"

Sophie got up and hobbled to the jug of water to pour herself more. "Yes. But, it doesn't mean I like him. I couldn't give a damn about him." She turned back to Thor.

"Can I ask why?"

Sophie considered her answer for a while. _Do I even know?_ "Understand… with that alien attack on New York… It changed everything. It shook science and religion and society to its very core. Everything we thought we knew or understood about our world was… called into question. It was like I'd dived into a pit full of ale or something. I was so drunk and addicted to all these new theories and papers and lectures and I wrote a bunch of my own. Of course, I'll need to rethink them all now I know Norse Gods are in fact real. That… That changes so much. I very nearly had a heart attack when I found out. It was kind of implied in the media you were just another hero in a costume with a name. I'm guessing it would have been too much to say, 'Oh, by the way, these guys are real too.'"

"So you don't hate Loki because he changed your world?"

"Well, I don't know if he changed it for the better. That'll unfold in time." Sophie shuffled her feet. "But he did stop me being bored for a while. I hate boredom. It's not good, and not just for me. He woke the world up. _But_, it still is not an excuse for trying to take over and killing people. There… there isn't an excuse."

"No."

"I thought… I thought when I got here I'd find him punished more severely."

"He was." Thor said. "But…It was very private and my mother…" He didn't say anything. "The rest of Asgard only know he committed crimes on Earth and a lot of them wouldn't care too much having never been there."

"So they don't know what he did here?"

"No." Thor said, quietly. "We thought he was dead. I thought it best Loki was still thought of as he was. Which… wasn't highly, but, better than being hated."

"I suppose that's a good incentive." Sophie said. "Having all of Asgard potentially turning against you at the slightest hint of a rumour." Her muscles were twitching again. She pushed all her thoughts onto Loki and Thor and away from her legs. She hoped Thor wouldn't notice. "Thor… Does Loki seem different to you now than on Earth?"

"A little. Have you noticed something?"

"This stays between us for now, okay? It's just a theory but… I saw a lot of SHIELD footage from their Helicarrier and their global cameras. Loki… He looks different. Like… He wanted to do all the things he did. It's obvious, he wanted to do them and he would have without hesitation, but it's like… Something else was inside him just gently nudging him towards his goal. It's something he's missing now I see him face to face."

"I don't think I understand." Thor folded his arms and looked at her thoughtfully.

"Never mind. I'll maybe explain it better one day." She paused. "You're both very lost, aren't you? Loki and you." Thor looked a little awkward, which Sophie found a little funny on someone as big as Thor was. "Your father said I'd be good for you both."

"I have no idea what he could mean by that." Thor answered. "One more thing… I'm going back to Earth in a week, maybe two, to tell our friends how you're faring. Be honest with me."

Sophie felt her eyes start to grow wet and blinked it away. "I miss them. And… I am scared. But, I'm also happy. Tell them that I'm happy."

Thor nodded and gave her a small smile. "Shall I walk you out?"

"Oh no." Sophie said. "You go on, I'm going to do some stretches and rest a minute first." Thor nodded and left. Sophie let out a gasp of air and allowed herself to grab two throwing knives from a bench. Her legs carried her to the end where the targets were lined up and she threw them one after the other. Both hit the centre. She let out a sigh of relief as her body calmed itself and everything slumped as she panted.

Suddenly Sophie felt warm breath in her ear as someone whispered, "Well, that was a lovely little trick." Sophie spun around to slap whoever it was and found her wrist caught easily in Loki's strong grip. _That was quick. Like a snake._ Her whole body was aching and she lost the strength to move properly. Everything gave up. He just stood, holding her wrist, the other arm behind his back. It was like he was holding onto thin air. "Just how did you do that? I thought you'd had no training."

"I haven't." Sophie pulled hard and wrenched her wrist free. She backed away. "That was just luck."

"Yes…" Loki said, pulling one of the knives out of the target. "I'm sure it was…"

Sophie turned and ran to the door. She wasn't going to be trapped in a room with Loki and a whole arsenal he could use. And suddenly, he was in front of her, looking incredibly pleased with himself. "How did you do that?"

"I asked first."

"I answered." Sophie edged away again, but slower this time. _Just keep moving and he'll follow. Then you can get the door._ "Why are you in here? I thought you weren't allowed."

"Well, you and I both know _other_ people are stupid." Loki said. "And so I slip past and come here some mornings to train. Although, time gets ahead of me and I occasionally get stuck hiding in here until other people leave."

_Did he hear and see everything?_ Sophie's heart started racing a little. _You weren't one step ahead this time. You idiot._ "Why tell me that? You know I'm going to go tell someone about this."

"Are you?" He asked. He tossed the knife from hand to hand. "Because I might just tell them about this… and then we'll both end up in chains on a rock at the bottom of Asgard somewhere. At least we'll have each other for company I suppose."

"They wouldn't-"

"Wouldn't they?" Loki's voice was quiet.

Sophie wanted to hit him. Kick him. Scream at him. Something. _I don't know what they would and wouldn't do._ _He's right._ "Fine. Stalemate. Now can I leave?"

Loki threw the knife and it hit the target exactly where Sophie had hit. "I wasn't stopping you."

Sophie didn't want to go near Loki but he was at least unarmed now. She cautiously moved around him to get to the door. Just as she put her hand on the door she saw the flash of numbers. _No…Not now._ _Not with him here._ She doubled over as they whirled past her eyes. She coughed and felt the familiar warm rush of blood down her face.

"Sophie?" She heard Loki say but it sounded distant. Sophie stood up straight as it faded away again. _That's not as intense as it is on Earth…But I'd hoped it would stop._ She opened the door to get away but Loki put a hand on her shoulder to turn her around. "Are you-"

"I'm fine!" She shoved him away, afraid and confused. She didn't want him touching her. She ran before Loki could do or say anything and left him standing. Her legs were screaming in pain and her vision started to get blurry but all Sophie cared about was distance and paper.

* * *

He'd been lurking in the doorway for a while now. Perhaps a good half hour. It was hard to step through to the other side. He could hear everyone talking and laughing. Hogun was telling a story punctuated by remarks from Thor and Fandral. Sif had told another story before that. Sophie had been coaxed gently into talking by everyone else and had quietly told a story about a drunken mishap she and a friend had had sneaking into a museum after hours to change clothes around on the mannequins. Loki knew a few of the terms she'd used and had at least got why it was funny before everyone else. Sophie had to keep explaining what things meant but everyone eventually understood.

He could see them all, hidden away in his shadow. They were all sitting around a fire. Hogun was brooding away on a stool by himself. Fandral and Volstagg sat together on a couch and opposite them sat Sif on another. Sophie was huddled sleepily by herself on a third. Thor kept switching between Sif and Sophie to sit with, so he could talk to her when she got very quiet. _And once I would have been welcome here too._ _Well, may as well._

Loki stepped through the door and quietly cleared his throat. Everyone fell silent as he expected. Normally Thor would make room for him even though everyone else would turn away, but this time was different. Thor looked awkwardly at Sophie, Sif and himself. Sif and Hogun fixed their eyes on Loki while Fandral and Volstagg became very interested in their tankards. Sophie stared at Loki for a while and then looked at Thor, nodded and moved her legs to the side so there was a free seat. Loki carefully walked around the back of everyone in case anyone felt like tripping him up into the fire and sat beside Sophie.

"I don't think…" Sif started, but trailed off as Thor shook his head.

"So…" Fandral said, looking awkwardly at Loki and then around to the rest of the group. "Did I tell you about this girl I met?"

"Do you ever run out of those stories?" Hogun grunted.

They all started talking again but Sif kept looking back to Loki from time to time and didn't join in on the conversation. Sophie held a plate up to Loki. "I made cake. Try one."

"Oh, I'm not-"

"Eat it." Sophie said with a very insistent look. Loki took one and broke off a little piece to chew. Sophie put her plate down and took a sip out of her own tankard. She cheeks and nose were a little pink. He couldn't decide if she was drunk or just tipsy but he knew she couldn't handle alcohol here all that well. "You've never come here before."

"I rarely do unless bullied into it." Loki said, quietly. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You startled me earlier." Sophie looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "What? I can actually feel concern for other people sometimes. And while normally I wouldn't 'give a damn'," Sophie flushed, "I at least care while you are vital to Asgard. So get used to it."

"Well… I'm okay now. Thanks." Sophie also spoke quietly, so they couldn't be overheard too much. She held up her tankard and tipped it but didn't take a sip. Instead, she whispered; "So, you can still use magic?" Loki was about to deny it but saw no point with someone like Sophie. He slowly nodded. "Funny, I was told steps had been taken to ensure you couldn't…"

"Well… I'm like you. I'm very clever." Loki said. "I found a way." Sophie nodded, watching the fire.

"Because it startled _me_. A lot."

Loki smirked a little. "Maybe that's what I wanted. You were the one who made this a game."

Sophie gave just a hint of a smile that showed more in her eyes than her mouth. "And I'm enjoying it." She glanced at everyone else and then up at Loki. She suddenly looked up at him and he wasn't sure if she was shy or just quieter than normal. "Can I get a look at whatever it is that's supposed to stop it?"

Loki could only stare at her. It wasn't what he expected. "Maybe. I will think about it." He eventually said before he lowered his voice again. "I'm surprised you didn't tell anyone."

Sophie started watching the fire, twitching away. "Stalemate. Besides, I enjoy having someone around who now _has _to keep my secrets."

"I still don't really know yours; I just know you're hiding something…"

"Figure it out. Game on." Sophie grinned at him with a familiar air of mischief he could almost taste.

"At least tell me what happened earlier. That was a lot of blood."

"Okay…" Sophie said, bringing her legs up to tuck underneath her. "I'm crazy and I see numbers and sometimes when I see them or think too hard I get very bad nosebleeds and the rare migraine."

"Oh, is that all?" Loki said and Sophie laughed.

"I'll tell you all about it tomorrow." She stifled a yawn. Loki watched her slowly fall asleep on the arm of the couch and turned back to the rest of the group to listen. Thor was watching him with interest and Loki could shrug at him.


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Tony

"I got it!" Tony called out across the lab. Bruce looked up from his table and came over to the desk Tony was at.

It had been a couple of weeks since Sophie had left them. Natasha and Clint had retreated back to Clint's and wouldn't come around anymore. The fact that they made little progress meant they saw no use for Tony. Tony had hoped that perhaps with working together they would forget his mistakes and move on. He should have realised that Clint and Natasha were in a league of their own when it came to forgiveness. Steve had gone with them but still came around occasionally to check on their progress.

Going through the personal items had at least unearthed that Frank had been in the marines and had been in a near fatal bombing incident in Iraq. He'd left soon after for long term recovery. They hadn't been able to trace his family or friends aside from the mention of his cousin from Sophie. It was like they didn't really exist.

Last night, Tony had finally made some progress. After Bruce had gone to bed Tony had gone out to three different bars, one late diner and then drank down whatever else he could find at home when he returned. _If I'm not careful I'm going to end up needing help._ His amazing brain wave while calling Pepper for the tenth time that day was that they had been too smart about everything. In trying to contact one of Sophie's three friends they had been going about it all wrong. It was a simple point of logging onto one of Sophie's online addresses and seeing who was who. Luckily none of this was as heavily guarded as all her own software and programmes. JARVIS had got in easily and now Tony was starting to feel much better than he had in days.

He quickly set himself to appear offline in case they got a flood of messages from people missing her. The e-mails were in the hundreds but Tony decided not to check them. He couldn't face the idea of what might be waiting in there. He went down the list and Bruce pointed at one. "Jan. His picture matches."

"Right…" Tony said. "We'll start a video call. JARVIS."

Tony adjusted the web cam as the window expanded to show the two of them on the bottom half of the screen and they waited to see if the top half would respond. Eventually they saw the man from the picture although his hair was certainly a lot longer now and braided behind him. "Sophie?" He asked before his face turned pale with anger and he began shouting at them in Swedish.

"Hey!" Tony shouted back. "Hey, calm down! I have no what you're saying."

"Of course you wouldn't." Snapped the man in almost perfect English.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Bruce leaned over Tony and blocked him from view. Tony tried to nudge him out of the way but Bruce stood his ground. "Hello, sorry about that… Jan, is it?" The man nodded coldly. "We didn't mean to scare you or anything, we're friends of Sophie. My name is Bruce and this is Tony."

"I know who you are." Jan said. "I'm a scientist, I would be a pretty shit one if I hadn't heard of you both."

"Thank you." Tony said finally pushing Bruce aside a little. "Nice to be appreciated."

"What do you want and why are you using Sophie's computer? Where is she?" Jan folded his arms and stared down the camera at them.

"Okay," Bruce took over before Tony could speak. "We're friends of Sophie's. I promise you we are and we haven't hurt her."

"Then why has no one heard from her in weeks? We are all worried sick."

"She's in danger and we've put her under our protection." Tony said quickly. "She's… She can't contact anyone I'm afraid. She's being tracked somehow and we thought it best no one else was at risk."

"Do you have proof?" Jan asked with an eyebrow raised. Tony looked at Bruce in alarm. They didn't have anything that would prove they had Sophie somewhere safe.

"JARVIS," Bruce said after a moment, "Send a few photographs and security footage of Sophie from the tower." A bar appeared on the screen and when it filled they watched as Jan clicked around with his mouse. He rested his head on his hand as he looked through the files.

"Okay… But don't think I won't be wary." He said eventually. "Just typical of Sophie to get into trouble…"

"Thank you." Bruce said. "All we want is to ask a few questions."

"About Sophie, yes?"

"Well," Tony said, "There's a lot more than a few questions we could ask. She's a big mystery."

"Always will be to anyone that's not us." Jan said.

"Wow. How hipster of you."

"Tony, could you not be you right now?" Bruce look back to Jan. "What do you know about your cousin that lives here in New York? Sophie is a close friend."

"Not much." Jan said. "He's like a third cousin and I haven't seen him since I was thirteen. His parents died a few years back and he's been alone since. When Sophie said she was going to move to New York for a year I thought I'd put them in touch so she'd have at least one person she knew when she got there."

"What about his personal life?" Tony asked.

"I only know he runs a club and was in the marines before that. I have no idea who his friends are or what he likes. Like I said, I haven't seen him in years. We didn't always see eye to eye when I did see him." He frowned. "Is he in trouble?"

"Something like that…" Tony said. "We're following up on anyone Sophie is close too and she was at that club all the time."

"Sorry, I really can't help you there."

"Great." Tony muttered.

"Tony, it's not his fault." Bruce. "Thank you, Jan."

A thought struck him at that moment. "Hey," Tony said pushing Bruce aside. "Before you go, do you know how Sophie found out about SHIELD? We can't work it out."

"Do you work for SHIELD?" Jan asked and suddenly tensed.

"No. They wish we did."

"I don't think I should talk to you."

"Just tell me. I promise they aren't going to come barging through you door."

"No, no." Jan said. "Sophie told us all to avoid-"

"We kinda hate them too, we just want to know."

Jan sat in silence for a while. "She hates them for making her the way she is."

"But she's a genius." Tony said. "She's talented and-"

"And in pain." Jan said quietly. "She hates her very existence. Also, her father. Apparently he wanted nothing to do with her. Wished she didn't exist."

Bruce and Tony slowly looked at each other. "We were under the impression she had no idea who her father was…"

"She doesn't know." Jan said. "But you know Sophie; she's good and kind of criminal."

"Really? I hadn't noticed…"

"Well, Sophie found out who her mother was when she was about nine but never contacted her."

"How?"

"Hacked the adoption agency and their database."

Tony shrugged. "Yeah, should have guessed she could do that at that age."

"Impressive, yes? Anyway, her mother died about a year later and Sophie went to the funeral in secret and then went to her mother's place to just see what was what. See who this woman was. She found a bunch of diaries which she stole to read." Tony raised his eyebrows and Jan rolled his eyes. "I know she began her life of crime very early. I always shame her for it. But, continuing, apparently her father hired her mother for a period of months and when she told him she was pregnant he told her she had to get rid of the baby. Apparently he was quite desperate about it. There was a note about him being a scientist so Sophie went through every lab and faculty in the nearby area which I think is how she stumbled on SHIELD. We're fuzzy on that detail."

"Was there a name?"

"Fake. It wasn't on the list of agents involved." Jan shrugged. "That's all I know. Sophie only told us the story a couple of times; she doesn't like to think about it. You know how funny her moods are."

"Oh boy, do we." Tony said.

Bruce was looking thoughtful. "Moods… Do you know what happened in Japan?"

"Japan?"

"Apparently Sophie is wanted."

"Oh that. Yeah." Jan nodded. "A guy tried to ...'assault' her friend when they were out clubbing… And Sophie has funny moods. She lost it. Or that's what I've been told."

"Would your friend lie to you? I'm assuming it's the girl in the pictures with you guys."

"Chiharu would never, ever lie to me." Jan said. "She called me the day after, was so upset. A week later she followed Sophie to Germany. They're closer than close, those two."

"Well, thank you very much for your time. Is there anything you'd like to tell Sophie?"

"Yes. France or Switzerland for our next-"

"France!" Tony immediately jumped in, shoving Bruce to the side again. "Seriously, get that girl to Paris. She'll love it."

"Oh… Okay." Jan looked a little bewildered. "If I send you a document to print… will you promise not to read it and give it to Sophie?"

"I'm sure JARVIS can manage that." Tony said. "Anything for a friend of Sophie."

"And I personally would ask you don't contact the other two. They don't need drama right now."

Tony and Bruce nodded and Jan turned off his camera without a word. Bruce sighed and sat down in a chair and Tony jumped up to sit on the desk. "Well that was enlightening."

"Yeah." Tony looked out the window. "At least we know she's not a psycho. But we don't know anything more about Frank." Tony paused. "Do you think Sophie would go all crazy if we were the ones in danger?"

"Maybe not you. There's only room for one rich playboy on this earth." Bruce smiled a little.

Tony laughed. "Yeah… There is. It's funny. She's almost like you now. She Hulks out."

"Sophie does not 'Hulk out'." Bruce said. "I imagine everyone was drunk during that incident and she just got the upper hand."

"Probably. It'd just be nice to know we had another cool rage monster on our team."

"Uh huh."

"But let's not tell anyone but the team. I imagine Fury would cry if he knew." Tony paused. "Does Fury even know what tears are? Is he capable of crying?"

"Okay, if this is where the conversation is headed I'm done for the day." Bruce said. "I just really want to get on with something else. I'll call Steve, he can at least stop tearing his pretty golden locks out about if Sophie will try to break his arms off. Although he might not like hearing how early she started stealing."

"Hey," Tony called as Bruce reluctantly climbed out of his chair to go, "Do you think Steve and Sophie…?"

"What?"

"You _know_. They spent a lot of time together in her room." Tony grinned a little. "They're really close… I just thought…"

Bruce started laughing. "Oh… Oh no, no way. Steve is too innocent and Sophie would be too ashamed to take advantage of him. Which is saying something with her track record." Bruce left still chuckling to himself.

"Just curious…" Tony said spinning around in his chair. _Poor Steve, all alone. He may have actually had a shot there. Just like me and Pepper…_

* * *

It was night now and Tony had no idea where Bruce had disappeared too. While Bruce had acted relieved that Sophie wasn't going to attempt murder Tony could sense he still thought her something dangerous. He'd taken to going out for walks recently and was sometimes away for hours. Tony also walked, but his walks took him to alcohol whereas Bruce's just resulted in him dropping a few inches and eating bigger breakfasts. He was sitting on the edge of Sophie's bed staring out of the window at the skyline. He had a half empty bottle of wine at his feet. His head was spinning a little.

He'd walked around Sophie's room, opening all the drawers and the wardrobe. A lot of her unpacked clothes were still there, just hanging eerily on their hangers. They silently judged him. There were still stacks of unused pens and pads. He found a Stephen King novel that had fallen under the bed with a volume of Elliot. He went through the piles of books on her bedside table that littered down to the floor. _When did she have time to collect all these?_ _Was I too busy to even see her right?_ He found a slab of chocolate hidden away as well and was considering just eating it before his stomach made a rolling motion and he decided no. Apart from the stack of books there wasn't much else. _It's like only a little percentage was left behind…_

He'd stopped searching and just sat on her bed, gazing out of the window. His phone was in his hand again. It was almost automatic to hold it after seven at night and call and text and e-mail Pepper. He didn't really think about it now. He just called. Tony ran his hand over the covers. _I lost you both._ He loved Pepper. He loved Sophie too. He wanted them both back here. _I want…_ He knew exactly what he wanted.

He put the phone to his ear as his thumb pressed the dial button. As usual it rang out and all he got was the voicemail. "Pepper… Well, you know it's Tony. I imagine no one else is calling you so insistently. Um…" He looked out the window again. "God, what am I doing? I miss you. Come home, please. I love you." He rubbed at his eyes. "I'm not gonna cry… But you know, I'm feeling… things. Like sadness. I feel sad and lonely. And I miss Sophie too. I do. I'm sitting in her room… And I'm kind of thinking about us and our future… We've already kind of adopted Bruce… We could adopt Sophie into our family… Maybe make other family members together... just a thought. You know. If you want me back. We have a long past, may as well make it a longer future." He threw the phone down and covered his face with his hands, rocking back and forth. "What am I doing?"

A warm hand placed itself on his shoulder and he looked up in shock. "You're being a very clingy idiot, that's what you're being." Pepper said.

"How long… When did you-" His heart was racing.

"About an hour ago and I spent forty of those minutes looking for you, five in the bathroom freshening up and the other fifteen standing here wondering what to do." Pepper said sitting next to him. Her foot bumped the bottle and it spilled over the floor. "Oh God, sorry-"

"It'll wash out." Tony said, grabbing Pepper and pushing her down onto the bed, kissing her hungrily.

"Tony-"

"Shut up for two minutes." He said biting her lip gently and kissing her again. Pepper gave in and relaxed under him wrapping her arms around his neck. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Why did you come back?"

"Because you're useless without me." Pepper smiled a little at him. "And I got lonely. And I… I kind of understand why you did it." She sat up and Tony moved aside. "You stink by the way."

"Charming."

"And your hair needs brushed."

"It's how all the cool kids are wearing it."

"And when did you last shower?"

"Bruce hasn't complained. Bruce doesn't complain like you do. I think I like him better. We're gonna elope for a manly wedding. I've decided."

"You are not." She batted him away and picked up the bottle. "How much have you been drinking?"

"A few. Here. There."

"Tony…" Pepper stood up. "Come on. You need to go to bed."

"Are you going to be there?" Tony gently grabbed her waist and playfully slid his hands under her clothes to run his fingers over her stomach. Pepper turned around.

"Yes. But none of this." She moved his hands gently away. "At least not until you're showered and sobered up."

"On it." Tony said taking her hand and walking out with her. It felt nice to just hold her hand. Pepper leaned into him.

"Did you mean that? About our future."

"Well… I wouldn't have said it, would I?"

"You are drunk." Pepper said.

"I'm honest when I'm drunk."

She squeezed his hand gently. "Even if we just talk about it… It's a start. I love you."

"I love you too." He rubbed his eyes and looked away from her out the window. _You are being such a girl._ His eyes were welling up with tears. Pepper turned his face back so she could look at him.

"It's okay." She smiled and kept going, leading him along as he kept rubbing his eyes and stumbling.

Outside the sky was beginning to turn grey and a flash of thunder came across the sky.


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Gone

_A/N: I would like to apologise for lack of updating. It would seem uni, work and a social life are all taking up my free time and will continue to do so for the next seven weeks. I promise to try and update as often as I can until the holidays when I'll have more free time to write. Thank you for reading guys, you really do make my day. _

Tony lay on his back panting. His hand tightly held Pepper's. They were both sweating and smiling. When Tony had woken up he'd found a steaming mug of coffee and platter of buttered toast sitting on the bedside table. He had eaten almost all of it, not realising just how hungry he was. He wondered if he'd been neglecting to eat the last couple of weeks or lost his appetite completely. He was starting feeling like his old self again. After giving his stomach time to settle he decided he better shower in case Pepper started telling him off.

While he was coming out and towelling his hair dry Pepper was making the bed and had placed his breakfast things to the side. In that moment he really couldn't resist. He gently tackled her onto the bed, making sure to mess up the newly made covers as much as he could and unbuttoned and unzipped everything he could reach.

He pulled Pepper under his arm and kissed the top of her head. It was wonderfully warm, the sun streaming in through the windows which was surprising after the storm last night. He gently ran his fingers over her sides and back. He was happy for the first time in weeks. She cuddled into his side and sighed. "Can we stay like this all day?"

"Of course we can." Tony said. "I'll update twitter or something so everyone knows not to phone or text."

"Or, or, you could just not do that and be normal."

"Well that sounds boring. But anything for you. Just this once."

Pepper dug her elbow into his side. "For that you can go make the next round of coffee."

"But there isn't a Starbucks in the tower."

"There's a pot already made. Just go pour it and I promise not to run away." She shoved him away and wrapped the covers around her shoulders reaching for a book she'd left on her side. Tony wandered through into the living area. As Pepper promised on the counter there was a pot of coffee already made and being kept nice and hot. He pulled down some clean mugs from a cupboard and just as he was reaching for the coffee he heard a tapping noise on the glass. He froze and slowly turned his head.

"Jesus Christ!" Tony jumped, horrified. Thor was standing outside. He was tapping on the glass looking oblivious and innocent as always. Tony nearly knocked the pot over in surprise. "What are you doing?" He shouted crouching a little behind the counter with his heart racing.

Thor just tapped again. "I came to visit. They wouldn't let me through the front without a card of some sort with my face on it. I don't have one."

"Well, the door is open. I don't exactly need to lock it…" _Although now I probably should._ Tony awkwardly looked around him for anything he could cover himself with and saw nothing. Thor came through the glass door. "By any chance is there a blanket under the couch?" Thor reached underneath both the couches and tossed a soft black blanket at Tony who hastily wrapped it around his waist.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise-" Thor looked away embarrassed.

"It's fine. I wasn't expecting visitors." Tony waved his hand at Thor dismissively and finished up with the coffee making an extra mug and sliding it across the counter. "If you'll give me ten minutes I'll just go get dressed…"

He went back to the bedroom and gave Pepper her coffee and a kiss. "We have a visitor so I'm afraid all this fun may have to wait until later."

Pepper raised her eyebrow. "Who?"

"Thor."

"Has he brought-"

"No." Tony said, quickly. He wanted to avoid any possible fight. "He doesn't look distressed or anything. I'm assuming he's just popping in to tell us how she is."

"I'll get dressed." Pepper said, sliding out of the bed. Tony pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt. "And phone Steve."

"And I'll get Bruce." Tony said, leaving Pepper to dress to his disappointment. _You owe me Thor…_ He wondered if Bruce would be in his room or the lab. He decided it more likely that Bruce would be in the lab by now. He didn't really spend a lot of time outside it. He was always working. His guess was right. Bruce was busy with a notebook and a few textbooks, scribbling away furiously. Tony cleared his throat and Bruce looked up.

"Oh, morning. Or is it afternoon, I haven't checked the time."

"Morning still." Tony said.

"Hey, you showered." Bruce said with a small smile.

"Uh yeah… Pepper came back last night. Figured it'd be polite."

"Oh, well I should go say hi to her." He stood up and came around to walk with Tony.

"And Thor." Tony said. "He dropped in."

"Well that explains that weird storm from last night. At least he found us."

"I think he just aimed for the tower judging by his appearance on my balcony. Not hard to miss."

They went upstairs where Thor was sitting with Pepper. He was clearly a little uncomfortable and kept looking out the windows. Pepper as usual was very at ease and chatting away while watching the morning news. Thor stood when they came into the room and shook hands with Bruce.

"Are we going to have to wait long for Steve?" Tony asked. At that moment the elevator door slid open and Steve came out, panting slightly.

"I'm here!" He waved a little at them all.

"That was fast." Pepper said.

"I was already heading over." Steve said standing up next to them. "And when I got your call I just ran."

"Excited to see Thor?" Tony nudged him. "Someone feeling the love?" Steve shoved him back and Tony laughed at Thor's bewildered expression. Steve sat down next to Bruce and ignored Tony.

"How's Natasha and Clint?" Pepper asked.

"Good. They left this morning quite early. I'm meeting them later out by some warehouses. I tried phoning them but I got the male voice-"

"Voice mail." Tony corrected. _Oh Steve. So innocent._

"Voice mail." Steve said, flushing.

"You got a lead?" Bruce asked.

"We have no idea." Steve admitted. "Just covering ground."

"Covering ground won't cut it after a while." Tony said. "Anyway, Thor, we're being rude. How are things?"

Thor looked up, clutching his mug. "Oh, things are well. Sophie is happy. She eats, she learns, she comes out riding with us a lot."

"Does she miss us?" Steve asked quietly.

Thor nodded. "She does, but she wants you all to know that she is happy. She's enjoying herself and made quite a lot of friends. She's very popular which surprised me."

"Popular how?" Tony asked. "She isn't by any chance working her way through everyone in Asgard is she?"

"I… I don't think I understand."

"Tony, don't confuse him." Bruce said. "You already do that enough."

"I only meant," Thor continued, "That she is well liked. My mother likes to see her often and I think she's made friends with guards and builders down at the end of the Bifrost. We are taking care of her."

Tony nodded. "We know. We… uh, got nervous for a while. Wondered… if it was for the best."

"It's best for everyone." Thor said. "I enjoy her company and she has made a difference to our defences. We are starting construction tomorrow." _Oh, are you now?_ "And she's safe, which is important."

"Good." Pepper said. "Good. We just need to know she's safe."

"I imagine you miss her all terribly."

"We do." Tony said quietly. "She's like the baby in our strange family."

"You will see her again." Thor said and then smiled. "Although I may fight you for her."

Tony smirked. "You know I don't like people taking my things."

"May I ask how are things down here? With you and your investigation."

"Well, everyone here is good." Tony said. "Mostly okay, anyway. We are making… very little progress but you know… we'll get there." _Steve better keep his mouth shut…_

"It may be wrong but I hope you don't make any progress for a while."

"Understandable."

Thor stood. "I shall go. I don't think I can be of much use to you here. I will come and see you again for longer next time. I'll bring Sophie as well, if you think it would be safe."

"As long as we keep her in the tower." Pepper said, "She will be. Please, bring her."

They all said private farewells, shook hands and hugged. Steve pulled Thor aside and spent a while talking in whispers. Tony crept away and hastily gathered a few things from his own room and Sophie's into a bag. He returned and led Thor outside. "Sorry you aren't staying longer."

"As am I, but I really know nothing of your world and would only hinder you. Besides, I have my own business to take care of." Thor stopped and looked out over the city.

"I'll have a card made up for you and leave it downstairs. I hope your next visit won't be too far off." Tony handed Thor the bag.

"What's this?"

"It's Sophie's birthday next week." Tony avoided Thor's eye. "They're just some presents for her, if you wouldn't mind giving them."

"Of course not. Anything." Thor said.

"Well, I was going to throw her a party. So…Would you maybe do something for her? Take her out or get together any friends she has, give her lots of drink…"

Thor smiled. "I'm sure I can manage something."

Tony dropped his own smile now and looked at Thor seriously. "I didn't want to ask this while everyone was around because we've had some… hiccups. This is only between us. Has Sophie had any contact with Loki? I have to know. It's driving me crazy."

Thor answered slowly and Tony could tell he was picking his words carefully. "She has, yes. But I can promise there is no harm in it. Sophie is so clever and she sees right through him."

"So she talks to you about Loki? And you would know if anything was up?"

"I know my brother. I would know if he was doing anything he should not."

"You better. I don't like this one bit." Tony felt the heat rising to his face. "You told us he wouldn't be a problem."

"And I did not lie. Loki has lost his power and is not allowed outside our family home."

"I thought you would have him punished."

"He was. And still is." Thor said and there was a very sad honesty in his voice that only fuelled Tony's outrage more. He didn't like having his emotions played with like that.

"Loki better not be messing with our girl."

"I think she is 'messing' with him." Thor replied. "It is rare for Loki to be confused. She puts him on uneasy ground he does not like and helps her with some of her work. She tells me about their exchanges. I think she almost find it fun."

"I hope he isn't involved in the defence side of things." Tony shot at him.

"Oh no, Loki doesn't see those at all for obvious reasons but he does give Sophie all his own research to use. He has no use for it and Sophie is under the impression he wants to escape and will help her along to get that. Of course, we are a step ahead because she can read him so clearly."

Tony folded her arms. He remembered what Jan had said_. 'Just typical of Sophie to get into trouble…'_ _She could be walking a fine line. Loki could be playing her as easily as she's playing him._ "She's a smart kid. But tell her to be extra careful for me, will you?" Thor nodded. "Tell her we miss her, be safe, avoid Loki as much as she can, and be extra, _extra _safe with…others. She'll know what I mean. There's something in the bag for that."

"What-"

"You don't want to know." Tony said. "Have a safe journey."

"I will. Goodbye, Tony." Thor shook his hand and took hold of his hammer and began swinging it. Tony watched him take off into the air and speed away over the tops of the buildings becoming a little red and silver blur in the distance.

_Got her working on your defences, eh? I don't even know how to begin working out that one. But I guess Sophie wouldn't do it if she thought it a bad idea…_ Tony turned his back on the city and headed indoors. _Your defences… What are you defending from?_

* * *

They had stopped for lunch at a little coffee shop. As it was so warm they ate outside. Clint relaxed in his seat while Natasha read a newspaper she took from an empty table. The sun made her hair seem much brighter than normal. Eventually she folded up the paper and said, "Let's go." They had made their way through a lot of streets today. That's all they were. Streets. They had spent so long walking through the city each day that he's lost count. They all looked the same.

Now they were heading out to some warehouses. Natasha drove them out and parked the car by some trucks. They got out and began walking. Most of the warehouses were in use but Natasha walked right by those. She wanted to check out the empty ones. They'd combed through empty houses and factories and there were still hundreds left to go. Steve was supposed to be with them today but he said he wanted a break. He had been sleeping worse and worse and Clint had heard him crying out in his sleep. Natasha had spent a few nights sitting up with Steve to help him stay calm. Everything was hitting them hard.

He knew Bruce and Steve were the worst for the nightmares and the stress. Tony may act all bold and brave but he knew even Tony had had his moments, his nightmares and panics. Pepper had let it slip at Tony's Christmas charity ball which they were all invited to last year. He supposed he and Nat were just so used to seeing horrible things they'd gotten to a point where they could push past the pain and keep looking up. He imagined Thor was the same as them although he couldn't know for sure without getting to know him better.

Although he was worried for Steve he had to admit it was nice just being him and Natasha again. He missed it and she was the only one he had anything in common with. Natasha stopped as they approached a warehouse near the end of this row that was starting to fall apart. "Looks good."

"It's a piece of junk." Clint said. "I don't think anyone would hide in here."

"Exactly why someone clever would." She replied with a little smile. He followed her inside through a rotting hole in the wall. They both were carrying torches in their backpacks –Clint's more bulky and heavier than Natasha's- and pulled them out to see around better. There were huge gaps in the ceiling and the walls that let in light but some corners were just too shadowed. They went up the stairs risking the rusting railings but there was nothing in the little office at the top. Natasha spent a while examining the floor before they moved to an empty warehouse across the wide road.

It was on their fourth attempt that Natasha suddenly put out her hand and stopped him in his tracks. "Wh-"

"Shh." She whispered. "I heard something." Clint stopped and watched her face as she turned her head from side to side, listening intently. Her hand was still resting on his chest and he was very aware of it there. "Come on." She took off back outside and ran over to the first warehouse. He followed her. "Clint, is your bow in your bag?"

"Yes." He halted and threw his bag on the ground and pulled out the bow and some arrows. He fastened everything around himself as fast as he could and ran after Natasha into the holey building. There was some shouting ahead and all of a sudden there was some smoke filling the entire space. Clint could see shadows moving. He heard the familiar grunts and groans of Natasha as she kicked and punched her way through the moving figures. Her own shape was the only female one he could make out. In all this smoke he wondered if he could even shoot straight and true. What if the smoke distorted the shadows too much and he missed by a good few inches?

He heard a loud clatter and a large metal can rolled and bumped into his foot. The top and bottom opened and a foul smelling green smoke came out. He backed away coughing and spluttering. "Nat!" He choked and kept moving away. "Natasha, where are you?"

"Clint!" He heard out of the smoke. "Clint, start firing."

"What if I hit you?" He screamed, finally able to breathe easier at the edge.

"Couldn't care less, just help me!" He heard the sound of a man moaning in pain and then screeching suddenly. _Will you ever stop being perfect at what you do?_ He pulled an arrow from his quiver, latched it onto the string and aimed into the mess. He watched as one silhouette fell. He began firing again and again and then ran through the fog to snatch up his lost arrows and get back to an edge. _At least we're onto something now._

At that moment a shudder shook the ground.

Everyone stopped moving.

Clint could feel it coming before it happened. "Nat! Get down!" He ran along the edge and ducked behind some rubble. He felt the heat as the far wall exploded. He looked up when he felt the waves of heat and rubble blow over. He couldn't see anything. "Natasha?"

"I'm over he-" And then he heard her scream and he could hear struggling and he ran out while his thoughts and heart raced. Something hit him in the neck and he had to stop. He pulled at it and saw a little silver dart, much bigger than the one Sophie had received. His neck was stinging and nipping painfully. He rubbed at it while his eyes watered.

"N-Nat?" _Please answer._

"Help me!" He heard and then there was a strange flashing circle through the smoke, more sounds of struggling and silence. Clint stood, feeling very drowsy. He walked around for a little bit once he could see a little better. He kicked at the ground, feeling around with his foot. No one else was there.

He fell to his knees and ran his hands over the ground. There were little heaps of sand. _Sand and dust… like before…_ He kept running his hands over the floor as he crawled searching for any bodies. His knees ached and his neck throbbed. He felt a large scorch mark on the ground that was still giving off heat.

He couldn't find Natasha.


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Missing

Steve was walking back to Clint's on his own, hands in his pocket and head down. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep. But, there was endless, pointless work to be done. By the time he got back to Clint's it would be late. He'd jump on his bike if they weren't there and head out to the warehouses to meet them.

He pulled his jacket around him a little more. Even though it had been warm earlier over lunch at Tony's the clouds had started appearing and he was sure it would rain soon, or at least tomorrow. He stopped to look in the windows of some of the shops and watched the people bustling around inside. He went into a book store for a while and ended up buying a few books to read throughout the week.

He was contemplating just getting a bus when a car pulled up at alarming speed right next to him. He recognised it as one of Tony's. Steve blinked as the window was rolled down and a frantic Tony looked out at him. "Get in here right now."

"What's going on?" Steve hurried to the car and opened the door to slide into the back. Bruce was sitting in the passenger seat and Steve fumbled while putting on his seatbelt as Tony took off again as fast as he could. "Tony! Hello?"

"Sorry, Steve." Tony said, glancing at him briefly in the mirror and then speeding through a light as it changed. "We got a call from Fury."

"Fury?" Steve frowned. "If you're taking me to him I don-"

"Natasha is missing." Tony interrupted. _Impossible._

"There was an attack." Bruce continued. "Clint's there right now and according to him she was just taken."

"No." Steve said. "That can't be right, Natasha is-"

"Well it happened." Tony barked. "And we're going to get Clint right now, get our own look at the scene and then you and he are moving back into Stark Tower, no questions, no buts. I won't have anything else happen to anyone."

Steve sat back in his chair. _Natasha is indestructible. I've seen her… she's tough, strong… she's not an idiot… How can anyone take her?_ "Is Clint okay?"

"Oh, just fine. Like a basket of roses."

"Tony, he just asked a question." Bruce said. Bruce turned to look at Steve. His face was a little paler than normal. "He's pretty messed up. We think we should get him away from SHIELD and back with us. Tony wants us all together where we can keep an eye out for each other. I have to agree it's a good idea."

Steve nodded and turned to watch the street blur by as Tony continued driving recklessly. He started to feel sick just thinking about her. _Not Natasha. That can't happen. Not Natasha…_

Eventually he jerked forward as Tony skidded to a halt in front of a warehouse. The entire thing was smoking and most of it was collapsed in on itself. Steve unclipped his belt and hurried out of the car. Tony didn't even bother shutting his door as they all ran towards the scene. SHEILD agents were crawling over the scene. The entire area was cordoned off but Tony just ducked under the rope and tape and proceeded through the people with their notepads, cameras and consultants. Someone tried to stop him, but Tony merely glared and the agent backed away. Steve ignored anyone who approached them and stuck with Bruce as they followed Tony. There were cars and vans around the side and Tony aimed straight for the largest one with its backdoors open.

As they got closer, Steve could see that there were a handful of agents inside and Clint was sitting in the middle of them as they fussed and talked over his head. Steve had to stop for a moment as he took in the sight of Clint. He had burns up and down his arms and over his face. Ash and dirt covered his skin. Someone was attempting to sponge him down but he kept shoving them away. His face had tear tracks down his filthy cheeks. _Oh my God… He didn't even look this bad after New York._ After Steve had got over his shock he ran into the van.

"Get out of here." Tony said to the agents. No one moved. "Now!" One of them looked like they were going to object but they all filed out. Steve heard them muttering and saw a few phones come out. He knew they'd be calling for Fury or Hill. At that moment he didn't care. They all stood around Clint who looked up at them with watery red eyes. Steve picked up the bowl of soapy water. It smelled strongly of disinfectant. He squeezed out the cloth and gently started washing away the dirt around his burns and cuts. Clint didn't object this time.

"Did you find her?" He asked eventually. His voice was hoarse.

"We haven't looked yet." Bruce admitted. "We just wanted to see if you were okay first…" He picked up a chart and started looking it over. Tony leaned against the van walls and watched everyone outside.

"What happened?" Steve asked quietly, "That is, if you want to talk about it."

Clint nodded. "I don't know… There was an explosion. These… people came out of nowhere. I don't know. We never saw or heard them. No evidence they were even there…" He broke off for a moment. "There was gas and smoke I think to confuse us. I remember…" He screwed up his face and rubbed at the back of his neck. "After the explosion… Something hit me here… and I swear I saw a flash of light through it all. Natasha was gone." He rubbed at his eyes again and snatched the cloth and bowl from Steve. Steve didn't object and just let Clint clean himself up. His hands were shaking badly. Bruce started looking Clint over at the back of his head where he indicated being hit.

"Bruce," Tony said. "You stay with Clint, Steve and I will check out the scene." Tony went through the van, stuffing bags and tubes and gloves into his pockets and giving some to Steve as well. Steve followed Tony out.

They weren't allowed into the remains of the warehouse. Tony laughed. It was harsh and cold and Steve didn't like the way it sounded at all. Tony led him around the sides and back until they found an opening. "Tony, maybe we should get those white suits and masks… There's still a lot of dangerous stuff in there."

"You're right." Tony grumbled. "Wait there." Steve waited as Tony ran off again. The air smelled like burnt wood, rotten eggs and something else that was sour. It made his nose twitch and crinkle. Tony returned with two heavy white suits and masks. Steve struggled into his and they helped each other zip up the backs and make sure the masks were secure before they pushed their way through the rubble. It was quite hard to see and Steve went in front of Tony to move anything big out of the way. "Wish I'd brought my suit." He heard Tony mutter.

"We were in a hurry." Steve continued pushing on ahead. They stopped in the centre where a large scorch mark was on the ground. It was deep, Steve realised, as he leaned down to look at it. Like a large heavy stone wheel had dented the ground. "Look at this." He waved Tony over.

Tony came over and knelt beside him. "That is not an explosion. That is something else entirely."

"Explosion came from over there." Steve pointed at the missing wall on the far side. "Everything has been thrown this way."

"No point in checking that out, I know explosions and every bomb under the sun." Tony said. "We can let these idiots handle it. What we need is to find out what made this… Because this is interesting."

"I hate that all we're getting is more and more questions." Steve said standing up. "How could Natasha disappear?"

"I don't want to think about it."

"Me neither."

"No, I mean, I really _don't_ want to think about it." Tony started taking rough measurements using his feet of the big indent. "Steve, you and Natasha are… untouchable. Now, I'll be honest. Maybe, perhaps, sometimes, without my suit I actually couldn't beat you two in a fight. Maybe." Steve couldn't help but smile a little. _Now you sound like Tony._ "And everything that happened last year… I mean, it proved how tough you both are. Look at you, you survived in ice for decades." Tony stood up and moved around the mark. "And if there is something out there that can take Natasha, then it can take you too… and then, well, we have a very serious problem."

"Yeah…" Steve quietly started copying Tony and looking over the ground for anything else. Tony picked up a few chunks of metal out of the dust and sand that was covering everything. It was all in heaps but the wind had blown it about a little and spread. _Heaps…_ "Tony. All this dust and sand…" He picked up some and let it trail through his fingers before scooping some into the test tubes. "It's in heaps."

"Heaps…" Tony looked at Steve, his eyes wide behind the mask. "Oh my God…Just like New Mexico." He looked around. "Steve, we gotta shovel all of this, as much as we can into whatever we can carry. Then we're grabbing Clint and going."

"Shouldn't we tell Fury?"

"He can figure it out on his own."

"As angry as I may be at Fury I really don't think that keeping secrets from each other is a good idea right now."

"Well he probably shouldn't keep secrets from us then, should he?" Tony was scooping the sand and dust into bags.

"Tony, can you even test this for anything?"

"Maybe. It's better to test this and get nothing than test nothing and stay stuck as we are."

* * *

Tony and Steve left their suits around the bag and hurried to the car to throw everything into the boot. They found a large metal tube that Tony said probably had been used to let out the gas but they couldn't carry it without it being too obvious. The tubes and bags could be hidden in pockets and under jackets.

After that Steve and Bruce had helped Clint out to the car, giving him a jacket with a hood, hoping he wouldn't be missed until they were back at Stark Tower. While Tony was driving he received a phone call from a very angry Nick Fury. Steve was almost relieved to see the smile crack on Tony's face as he argued with Fury. "Sorry, being my friend trumps being your agent. See you soon!" Clint had managed a little laugh at that before breaking into a painful sounding coughing fit. Steve kept giving him water everytime.

Bruce had set about getting a doctor to come and look at Clint privately. Steve made up a bed and went and found some spare clothes and towels to but in Clint's room for him. Tomorrow he and Tony would go and pack up some of Clint's things and his own. _Back again._ He made up his own bed back in the room across from Sophie's. Her door was shut tight and he didn't see the point in going inside.

He headed up to the living room to get some tea or coffee and wondered if there'd be anything worth watching tonight. He was just heading up the stairs, seeing no point in taking the lift for one floor, when he heard voices. He stepped up and quietly went through the door and peered around. Tony and Pepper were standing in the kitchen area having a very heated argument. Steve immediately shied away into the shadows.

"No question."

"Tony, you are being-"

"I won't hear it. Natasha is untouchable and she was touched. I'm not having you taken away from me."

"No one is going to-"

"Yes, they will! They know our every move. They know everything we do and you are vulnerable."

"I'm vulnerable?" Pepper's voice grew higher. "What about you? Without your suit you're just as normal as I am."

"I'm not going to be leaving this tower without everyone else."

"Natasha had Clint!" Pepper started shouting. "And look what happened!"

"The difference is we'll be going out as a group of four! I will have my suit, a super soldier, Clint and a Hulk. They were not prepared; we will be at all times."

"They were so prepared. Clint and Natasha are _always_ ready. You are being stupid. I have press to do and work and conferences and I can't do it all here."

"Well I keep telling you to take a vacation and this can be it."

"Enforced vacation, great." He heard footsteps and felt that they had moved from the kitchen bar to the couches. "Tony, I need a life."

"Well you're my life and I won't lose you." There was a pause. A long one, and Steve started to feel uncomfortable and edged away towards the stairs. "I just got you back. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Tony… You're an idiot. Nothing will happen to me." There were some more footsteps. "I'll stay here but not all the time. I quite like the idea of fresh air."

"We have a balcony."

Even Steve found it hard to stifle a laugh. He started hearing the soft sounds of kissing and Pepper giggling and knew he was overstaying his welcome. As he set foot on the stairs he crashed right into Bruce. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"My fault, wasn't watching." Bruce rubbed his head and stepped up to be level with Steve.

"Is someone there?" He heard Tony ask.

"Uh, yeah. Bruce and I were just coming up to see if you were here…" Steve and Bruce got up and went around the corner. Tony and Pepper were quickly arranging themselves into casual sitting positions on the couch.

"You should really knock." Tony said folding his arms.

"Next time I will…" Steve promised.

Bruce cleared his throat. "We uh, the doctor and I had a good look over Clint." Everyone looked at Bruce and Steve saw his face get a little pink. "He said Clint should be okay with some bed rest. He cleaned up the burns. Clint's sleeping right now, I gave him something."

"That all?"

"No…" Bruce started to look uncomfortable. It was the same way he looked whenever he had to tell them something unpleasant or confusing. Each time he pulled that expression Steve felt his heart skip a beat and his stomach sink. "Uh, Clint was hit in the back of the neck. There was some swelling and it was rather odd, like a bite, so we took a look and the doctor and I prodded it and… well we ended up kinda doing a little mini surgery."

"Oh my God, why?" Pepper stood up, looking horrified.

"There was… a tracking device. A little tiny tracking device." Bruce put his hands in his pockets awkwardly. "I… I don't really know what to tell you. I had to stamp on it. I couldn't have it transmitting."

"So, what, we can't get a look at it?" Steve asked.

"Please," Tony said, "I have JARVIS and can build things out of nothing. We'll find out where it came from and how good it was."

"It appears our friends wanted to track our movements with Clint. He does the most moving around. They could sense him coming and be out of wherever they are in no time. Or keep track of us in general."

"Holy…" Tony stood up and started pacing. "They always knew where Sophie was…"

Steve's eyes widened. "You don't think-"

"I don't think, _I know._" Tony replied. "Oh… We have to tell Thor about this. We can't let Sophie come back to Earth. They'll find her and take her in case we send her away again."

"How are we going to do that? He's in Asgard." Asked Pepper.

"I'll think of something. Excuse me." He ran past them to the elevator.

Steve looked between Bruce and Pepper, his stomach sinking even more. _Why can't be win one for once?_

* * *

It was dark.

She kept blinking but nothing came into focus. Wherever she was, it was black. There was a soft mattress underneath her and a blanket. It wasn't particularly cold, wherever she was. It smelled clean but not fresh. No musk or dust, just _clean_. It was the only word to describe it. She rubbed her head. _What happened? Where's Clint?_ She stood up on wobbly legs and steadied herself. Carefully, Natasha felt in front of her and moved forward until her fingers hit glass. She ran her hands over it and followed the wall to a corner. More glass. She kept moving. Each wall was glass. _Wow. Idiots. I can break out of this too easily._ She kicked the glass. Nothing happened.

For the first time in a long time, Natasha felt a twinge of fear. She kicked at the glass again. It didn't move in any way. The only sound was the sound of her foot hitting the glass. She tried again and again.

She immediately felt down her legs for her guns. They had been taken. _No…_

She stopped and sat down, trying to calm herself _You're okay…He's coming for you. They're all coming for you…_

Natasha tried to think back. She'd been fighting which wasn't exactly unusual but the circumstances were. There was gas and smoke and an explosion. The people… they'd been wearing black. They didn't look right though. She remembered that a few of them had looked almost made up. Like they're faces were a little incomplete. Like a doll. Dolls had those lifeless faces with glassy stares. They had lifeless faces too.

Then there was that odd flash of blue –or was it white?- light. A great ring had appeared and she'd been tackled through it.

_That's all I can remember. _She stood up again just as a small light came on above her head. Now she could see a little more, but not much. She was in a glass box, that much was obvious, but it was pitch black no matter which side she looked. It was surprisingly spacious or perhaps it only looked that way because there was nothing inside. A scraping noise came behind her and Natasha whirled around and put her fists up and took a stance. No one was there. On the floor sat a metal tray with some food and a flask on it. _How…_ Natasha cautiously moved towards the wall and ran her hands all over it. There were no hinges, no openings, no grooves, no nothing. It was smooth, unblemished glass. _Is this even real glass?_ _I can't budge it._

She sat down and sniffed at the food and chewed on some, tasting it for any hint of something unfamiliar. She did the same with the water in the flask.

Eventually Natasha pushed the tray away and sat back on the mattress. There was nothing to do or see. She couldn't make the glass move, but that wasn't to say she wouldn't try.

She'd never felt so alone or trapped. _If we'd never met her I wouldn't be here now… If I'd just ignored that noise I wouldn't be here now… If I could break that stupid glass I'd be free._ Natasha rubbed her eyes. _You're not going to cry… You're going to rest and think about this. You're going to get out for Clint and Sophie and Steve. You're not going to cry._

She let out a dry sob.


	21. Chapter Twenty: Birthday

She lay on her back on her bed breathing deeply. Sophie reached up occasionally and traced things in the air. The numbers were different here. She could feel it. There was something about Asgard that was special. It wasn't like Earth. She could feel the magic of the place pouring itself around every corner and door. She felt like it might have gone into her, sometimes. Sophie spent so long trying to work out how Asgard could exist, how it stayed in space the way it did, how the other realms connected to this one. She was sure magic was the answer but she couldn't understand it yet.

And the numbers just kept coming, but they didn't pester or irritate or hurt her like before. She could almost control it. Slow them down, see them properly. Sift them through each other. She still didn't know what they meant, but it was so soothing to finally look at them properly. It was like being high or drunk. It was so relaxing…

A knock on the door forced Sophie to sit bolt upright. She looked around in panic for a moment and rubbed her head. _You have to stop doing that._ She worried that spending so much time in that state of mind would be bad for her. But it was starting to get addictive. "Come in." She called out. Thor's head appeared around the door and Sophie smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Thor came in carrying a couple of flat boxes under his arm and closed the door. Sophie stretched and propped herself up on pillows. "I thought you would be away already. You're never here during the day." He sat down on the bed next to her, moving aside some books.

"Is it morning?" Sophie looked at the curtains and could see a little shine of bright light coming through them. "I didn't even notice."

"Yes well," Thor picked up a book and turned it over in his hands, "you spend so much time with your head in these it's a wonder you even know what day it is."

"I get by."

"This is for you, from Tony Stark." Thor handed her the first box he'd been carrying.

"Tony?" She took the box.

"It's your birthday today."

Sophie smiled, delighted. "He remembered."

"So you don't know what day it is."

She opened the box, laughing. Inside were two photo albums she recognised and some envelopes she guessed had messages. She quickly shut the box.

"Something wrong?" Thor asked.

"No. Just uh… It's something personal and I'll cry and I don't want to cry in front of you." She rubbed at her eyes. "I'll have a look at those later, when I'm alone."

"You are allowed to cry."

"Not on my birthday." She tapped the box with her fingers. "You should be happy on your birthday."

"Well," He handed her the other. "Hopefully this will cheer you up. It's from my mother and father."

"Oh, they didn't have to." She opened the box. There was a new dress and two very heavy looking books. "Wow…Those are big books." She ran her fingers over the material of the dress which was a pale purple. "And this is… just stunning. Your mother really has to stop getting me nice things; I'll run out of space in here."

"I think they would like you to wear it tonight."

"Tonight?"

Thor gave her a mischievous grin and Sophie narrowed her eyes. "You're to spend the whole day out."

"Out?"

"Out. Nowhere near here." He stood up with his arms folded. "No library today. You have breakfast and you leave."

"But I like the library."

"I'm sorry but until evening, you have to go outside and stay away."

Sophie moved to the edge of the bed and got up. "That sounds like a terrible birthday present. And I'm from the modern age; I'm allergic to staying outside for more than an hour."

"I have… I don't even know what that means." Thor went to the door. "Just stay out all day, I insist and will enforce it if I have to."

Sophie scowled a little but went to open the curtains as she heard the door shut. It was a nice day. _I could take some reading outside. Maybe do a little riding._ She dressed and washed quickly and looked around at the walls. _I should buy fabric and lots of it…_ A few nights ago she's woken up to find she scrawled on the corner of one of the walls. She'd stained her sheets with ink and haphazardly written across paper on the table. She figured another curtain or two would hide any ink she wouldn't have time to clean off during the day and just add as decoration.

Sophie headed down to the stables with a bag over her shoulder after nipping to the kitchen to pack it with food. She'd learned to handle a horse at last and was allowed to borrow one when she needed it. As she got to the stables she saw a chestnut horse tethered up outside. It was well groomed and its coat shone, saddled up and ready to go. Sophie approached it nervously in case it was for someone else and reached out to stroke the horse's nose. It sniffed at her and she giggled. A piece of parchment was tucked into the bridle. Sophie continued stroking the horse as she gently eased the parchment out and managed to open it one handed.

_Happy Birthday, Sophie._

_Thor, Sif, the Warriors Three_

Sophie tucked the note into her pocket, her cheeks red as she untied the horse. _I've never had a present quite like this._ It was going to be a good birthday.

* * *

He'd heard the music as it started in the evening but it was slowly getting louder and now it was joined by shouting and laughing. Loki had had a very boring day –which wasn't exactly unusual- walking around the grounds several times and then walking through the corridors and then sitting in the library, before heading out for another night time walk. He hadn't even seen anyone else that day. It was like they'd all retreated and hidden away inside the very walls.

And now, as he was heading up the stairs to go back inside he could hear the noise getting louder. He decided to follow the music and see what was going on. He found the source in the main hall. He stood awkwardly in the doorway, watching everyone. There were a lot of people, most who he recognised from around the castle and wall. His mother and Odin were sitting together at a table talking with Hogun. He watched Sif and Fandral dance together with a circle of others near musicians. There were plates and glasses littering every spare table and chair. He slid into the room and stalked around the edges and ducked under wayward arms. Everyone was drinking heavily and no one even glanced twice at him. _Well that's a pleasant change._

He heard Thor's voice through the wall of bodies. "Just try it. I used to do it all the time."

"Another!" And then there followed a smashing sound. He recognised the voice as Sophie's but it sounded slurred. He turned to try and find them through the crowd and squeezed through more people. "You're right, that was fun."

"Care for another dance?"

"I would love to." Loki spotted them in the groups and circles of people dancing. Thor towered over Sophie and practically lifted her off her feet. It was obvious Sophie didn't know the steps and was learning as she went along stiffly. The whole sight was comical. Loki moved away again. While he didn't want to get drunk he did want a drink if this was going to be keeping him up all night and it had been a while since he'd had any fun. He found a table with bottles and glasses and a few barrels sitting either side of it. He poured himself a glass of wine and stood watching everyone. So far, no one knew he was there. _This is actually nice._

Someone tripped out of the crowd and bumped into the table. Nothing fell or broke on the table so Loki ignored the person until he saw it was Sophie. She looked up at him in surprise. "Loki? Hello." She looked around at the table. "This is not cake."

"You really are a genius."

She blinked at him confused. "Yes. I thought… I thought you knew that." _I prefer you clever._

"I knew that. What I don't know is what is going on here."

"Oh…" Sophie looked around. "Yeah, I think Sif may have been in charge of inviting people." She turned pink. "It's my birthday. I think Thor just wanted to do something nice for me..."

"So you're the reason no one in Asgard is going to get any peace or sleep tonight."

"Well, technically with the size of Asgard and the speed that sound travels-"

"Oh, shut up." Loki put down his glass. "I plan to actually try and enjoy myself tonight as everyone is too drunk to notice me and I don't want your technicalities." An idea struck him. He held out his hand. "And you're going to dance with me so I can watch you make a fool of yourself again."

She didn't do anything. Loki stared her down but she stared right back. Eventually a little twitch appeared at the corner of her mouth and she took his hand. Loki found a spot nearer the dancing that was unoccupied and led Sophie through the steps. He watched her carefully. _Oh yes… You have some secret you're hiding._ He noticed she occasionally sabotaged her movements on purpose. She knew every step. He just didn't know why she was so keen to hide that she did. It was the same secret she had tried to hide before. He was at least enjoying himself even if he couldn't work it out. She'd gone to a lot of effort to tidy herself up and would have looked pretty if it wasn't for the fact that every inch of her skin was flushed red now. Clearly tonight she'd just thrown caution to the wind and drank anything handed to her.

He twirled her around and then let go of her hand when the music stopped again. Sophie gave him a smile. "Thanks. That was nice."

"Well maybe I'll find you again for another later." He turned, as Sophie was pulled away by another dancer, and went to have a look around and see who else was here. He quietly listened in on conversations and found that the Bifrost construction was being completed faster than he'd thought. He didn't get his hopes up too much that he would be leaving Asgard soon, that would take more time, but he could finally start laying some plans. His mother waved for him to join her but he shook his head. Odin was still sitting with her. He moved away to find Thor and Sophie. They would probably be willing to talk to him and he wouldn't have to keep standing alone.

He couldn't see them anywhere no matter where he went. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Frigga. He looked away. "If you're looking for Thor he went outside. Sophie wanted air."

"Garden or balcony?"

"Balcony." She smiled at him. "It's nice you want to see your brother.

Loki let it slide. "Thank you." He touched her arm briefly before heading out. _I suppose I _do_ want to see him, don't I?_ _At least right now._ He turned the corner and stepped out onto the empty balcony which welcomed him with a very refreshing breeze. He was just thinking that perhaps Sophie had gone to bed and Thor had returned to the celebrations when he heard some voices. They were both sitting down in the shadows with their backs to the walls and tankards at their sides. They were staring at the sky and he was sure Sophie was counting the stars. Loki quickly moved out of their line of sight.

"You've been surprisingly quiet tonight." Thor said. "Which is really not like you at all, too much to drink?"

"Huh?" Sophie looked at Thor as though she'd only just noticed he was there. "No, no. I just, I read those letters in Tony's present. I've had it on my mind all day."

"If you want to talk about it, I don't mind."

Sophie wriggled and arranged herself into a more comfortable position. "Tony wrote me a quick note; Steve wrote me a lovely letter. I also got one from my friend Jan which I was not expecting. If Tony's dragged him into this mess I'll kill him." She started to twitch. "Two of my best friends just got engaged. I'm to be her bridesmaid, assuming I'll be home by then. I can't stop thinking about it."

"You will go home one day. I was thinking of taking you to Earth next time I go. You'll be able to see all your friends. We will let you come freely between the two worlds I'm sure, when all this is over."

"I hope so. It's just odd that suddenly my friends have taken this big leap with their lives, you know? They're in love and growing up. Soon I'll be an aunt when they start having a family." Sophie pulled her knees up and rested her head on them to look up at Thor. Loki leant against the wall to watch them. "Do you have a girlfriend? I've never seen you with anyone."

"I had someone special on Earth." Thor said after a while. "Wasn't that in my…'file', was that it? What you read?"

"Yes but it was their initials. Plus I had to read it in bits and pieces on JARVIS free computers so I may have missed a bit with her name. Typical of SHIELD to protect someone who's normal but put name and address of anyone with anything freaky." Loki frowned a little. _That was bitter. I thought you were with SHIELD?_

"Her name is Jane." Thor said, quietly. "Jane Foster."

Sophie's mouth dropped open. "No way, really? Like, the scientist Jane Foster"

"Yes, believe it or not." Thor looked at her amused.

"Wow. No offence, but I didn't figure you for the smart girl type. I mean, Jane Foster wrote a lot of papers I used in my research after New York. She is so clever and she's really beautiful too." There was a pause. "Do you miss her?"

"Yes. But… It's perhaps best we don't see one another right now. Not with all that's been happening. I want her to be safe."

"I hope… I hope one day you'll get her back. 'Cause, you deserve to be happy."

"I'm certain I will, now that I can return to Earth." Thor took a long drink from his tankard. "What about you? You and Steve Rodgers seemed very close and he could not stop asking me how you were."

"Steve?" Sophie laughed. "Oh, no, no. I mean, he's sweet and everything a girl dreams of. Looks, polite, sweet, but, we're both so out of our time it wouldn't work."

"Out of your time?"

"He's from the past and stuck in the future. And I'm from the present when I should be in the future."

"I don't think I understand. You confuse me."

"Well… The world isn't ready for people like me. It's so ignorant and stupid and not willing to move forward. A smart person like me will be shunned and ignored. I was born decades too early. But… If I was in the future I'd always have to fix problems. Always. I wouldn't get away from it. It'd be horrible." Sophie looked down into her lap. "Everyone always said I should get a career and be the top of my field, never mind anything else. I was too smart for anything else. But… But, I really want a family and… someone. Does that make me weak? That I'd rather have that than be the next Tony or Bruce?"

"No. Not at all. But, I don't see why you would. When I was your age I would never have wanted to settle in any way. I was too busy enjoying my life, Loki and I together." There was a long silence before Thor spoke again. "You have so much time for families and from what Tony tells me…You can have anyone you want." He watched Sophie shove at Thor's arm and the both of them fell about laughing. _You're that kind of girl, are you?_

"Well… He's not wrong. I have a bad habit, but… I want to break it. I just…" Sophie rubbed her head. "I get bored with them. The ones I stick with. They aren't interesting enough to keep me interested. I'm jealous that everyone I know has _someone_. I think I'll just never find anyone. And, I really, _really_ want to."

Thor put his hand on Sophie's shoulder. Loki felt uncomfortable with Sophie's tone. He wanted to hear and at the same time, didn't. "Why?" Thor asked.

"Do you know what it's like to be me? You all think it's so great to be so smart all the time. It's not really. I _never_ stop thinking. Tony and Bruce can stop. Right now, I'm doing calculations and reviewing Jane's papers and thinking about your defences. I can't sleep because of all that. I can't go five minutes alone without talking to myself. And… sex, I get this break from all that _thinking _for just a minute. And it's heaven. And, I know that if I had someone I loved and who loved me… it would go away for hours at a time. And a kid or two, I'd be so busy worrying about them to worry about how many atoms are in my coffee cup. I get worse every year. I start going crazy in my home. I just want some peace. I don't want to be alone." She wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

Thor put his arm around Sophie and pulled her close and she leaned into his side. Now Loki really wanted to leave. He didn't like this at all. "I'm sorry, I never even thought of you as being in pain. I thought you were lucky. And gifted"

"It is a gift. But, it drives you insane. It pushes you to your limit. Makes you hate yourself and others. And I'm running out of time."

"How are you running out of time?" Thor asked. "You're practically a child in Asgard you have years left in you."

Sophie paused for a long length of time and took a sip for her tankard. "I think I will be lucky if I see my thirtieth birthday. And I think… if I make it to forty, it will be a miracle." He frowned in confusion, then, Loki turned cold as slowly the implications of her words hit him. Sophie suddenly sat upright. "Oh God, I shouldn't have told you that. I-"

"Say no more. I understand." Thor took her hand. "I can't pretend I am fine with what you said… But I know what it is like to feel so… desperate."

"Don't… Don't tell anyone."

"This was merely a drunken conversation and it won't stray into any sober ones with our friends on Earth, I promise." Thor said smoothly. "As long as you are not a danger to yourself or others, anyway." _And they say I'm the liar. You'll tell them as soon as you can. _It was how Thor was.

"I can settle for that. Thank you." Sophie lifted her tankard. "To finding Jane."

Thor clinked his tankard against hers. "To finding someone."

"So, tell me all about your childhood in Asgard. I could use an embarrassing story to wind Loki up with."

Loki turned away and silently went back inside. He'd heard enough. He should have left when he saw them sitting there like the drunken idiots they were. He wasn't sure how he felt. He still felt cold. Suddenly, things Sophie had said to him over the weeks started to click into place. _"It's not about the money. It's about not being bored_."..._ "he did stop me being bored for a while. I hate boredom."_… "_Game on."_ This was why she kept his secrets. He was a game. It was why she so eagerly pounced on any piece of knowledge that came under her nose. Sophie needed reasons to stay alive.

He stopped just outside his own chambers and sat down on the floor. He tried to picture it. He tried to see her dead and couldn't. He wondered how she would do it and if she'd ever tried. Loki looked at his hands, the wall and the ceiling. Maybe she would ask someone else to help her. He stopped and thought about his own life. _No… Even now, I'd rather fight on than kill myself._ Loki stood up and opened his door, going in and shutting it tight. He could still hear all the noise but it was fainter than he expected. Thor and Sophie would probably be back dancing now. Thor would keep her secret for the rest of the night. He might even forget in the morning. Loki wouldn't forget. He sat on his bed and tried to think if he should tell her he knew or not. It was hard, to understand that someone as young and lively as Sophie would want to die. _I did not want to know that about you._ He lay back on his bed and found a book stuck under the pillow that he pulled out to flick through. _I'll play our game for a while longer._

Now that he thought about it, he also had thought Sophie had a gift and like Thor, he didn't even think that it would cause her any kind of distress. All that muttering and twitching made a little more sense. He knew she was mad, but not _that_ kind of mad. _What is it that makes you so clever? What made you so brilliant it kills you?_ Because there had to be an answer to that.

Loki sat up and pulled his clothes off so he could sleep. _Wherever I'm going I'm taking you with me, Sophie, willingly or not. You'll build me an empire and I'll give you enough realms and worlds to keep you interested until I've squeezed every bit of knowledge from you. _He began working out the right timing to leave Asgard, what he would need to take and where he would go. How would he convince Sophie to come, or, steal her away? Where would be begin to build an army? He thought about all of this as he fell asleep.


End file.
